Behind the Mask
by Alex Skywalker
Summary: An unknown organization is out to kidnap Robin and will seemingly stop at nothing to get him. Their reasons? Unknown. Their methods? Deadly. A look into the life of the Boy Wonder.
1. Beginning

**This is a story of a bird, who cried a river and drowned the whole world...**

**Nah, just kidding. This is a story about Robin.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Young Justice  
><strong>

* * *

><p><em>"Sir, we have finished the DNA enhancement. All tests have come back positive." <em>

_"Good. Alert Doctor Desmond."_

_"Of course, sir. When should he proceed?"_

_"We need a subject first. I'm thinking hero."_

_"A hero, sir?" _

_"Yes, that is what I said." _

_"Sir, won't one be hard to capture?"_

_"A sidekick then. A human one, one without powers: the procedure requires pure human DNA." _

_"Of course, sir, but how will be _get_ a sidekick?"_

_"We won't have to. They will come to us."_

_"But how-?"_

_"Set the upper levels on fire. I know who I want."_

__oOo

Dick Grayson balanced precariously on a chair, his arm stretched high above his head, wobbling slightly as he tried to keep his footing on the tips of his pristine shoes. Why did he have to be so short? He asked himself angrily, attempting a lunging grab that almost ended in a face plant into the floor. He couldn't even reach a stupid textbook. Textbooks should be within student reach if teachers ever expected students to use them. Even if said students were vertically challenged. Of course, Robin would have no problems whatsoever of retrieving the textbook, but Dick Grayson wasn't Robin. Dick Grayson had to act like any other thirteen year old kid, even if it meant resorting to standing on tip-toes for twenty minutes while he fruitlessly tried to reach a cabinet that, with a little acrobatics, could be reached in seconds. Multiple identities suck.

Sighing in momentary defeat, Dick relaxed from his extended position and hopped down from the chair, loosening the red around his neck, tempted to rid himself of the annoying accessory and accompanying blue blazer altogether. He crossed the small supply room and yanked open the only resident window, coughing slightly as a small cloud of dust engulfed his face. How long had it been since that thing had been opened? How long had it been since someone had even been in this room? Judging from the dust that accumulated on nearly every surface, it had been far too long in Dick's opinion.

The summer sun shone brightly through the foggy window, casting shadows and displaying all the dust that was now floating around in the air. Dick sighed, leaning against the counter in front of the window, tugging at his tie again as the sun made the already stifling room almost unbearable hot. And why was Dick inside on a summer day, extracting old textbooks from dusty, unused rooms? School was why. And why would anyone be worried about school over summer vacation? Because Dick Grayson was smart; smarter than all the other kids his age, though that was hardly a reason to study over the summer. No, the reason Dick Grayson was in school, studying over summer vacation was because he was trying to enter Gotham Academy a year early at the age of thirteen. And apparently being genius level intellect and a straight "A" and the top of his class by practically a mile wasn't enough. In order for Dick Grayson to enter into Gotham Academy the coming school year he had to prove himself ready by taking classes over the summer to demonstrate his "above-average work ethic and appreciation for the finer points of education". Come again? No, Dick Grayson didn't really care for the finer points of education. Not anymore.

Sighing, the Gotham school made his way back over to the unconquerable cabinet. Throwing a glance around the room Dick's cobalt eyes landed on a stack of boxes in the corner. The sides of his mouth turned up and, with an eerie cackle, he quickly picked one of the biggest ones up. It was empty, thank goodness, but Dick only hoped it would his weight. He placed strategically on its head, the top resting on the seat of the chair he'd been standing on previously; hopefully positioned this way would maximize the amount of weight it could hold. Dick carefully picked his way onto the top of the make-shift tower, wincing as the box sagged slightly went he stepped on it, but he let out a deep breath as it withheld its shape. Finally! He thought, opening the cabinet and reaching for the textbook, when the sounds of a door opening reached his ears. Dick whirled, Robin instincts taking over, as the door to the supply room swung open revealing a young, red-headed girl with something of a smirk on her face.

"Hey, Shortstop, watcha doing?"

Unfortunately for Dick, his make-shift tower hadn't been as sturdy as he'd hoped, for the sudden motion of his spin sent the box twisting out from under the boy's feet, sending him crashing to the floor. The girl burst out laughing, Dick's face turning a deep shade of scarlet to match her hair.

"Shut up, Babs." He growled, pushing him himself to his feet. That girl had some nerve laughing at _the_ Robin, he thought, regretfully knowing that she had no idea that's who she was laughing at.

"You trying to reach something, shorty?" She said, putting on a pouty face.

"I hate you, you know that?"

"You _wish_ you could hate me." She laughed, crossing the room and nimbly hopping onto the chair, kicking the dilapidated box off, and gracefully retrieving the textbook, which was, aggravating, within her reach. She leaped down, and held out the book to Dick, smiling smugly as she made a great show of looking down at him. It's not like she was that much taller than him! Only a few inches. Besides, she was a year older….

"Thanks." He spat out grudgingly, attempting to rip the book out of her hands, but she pulled it away at the last second.

"Eh eh eh, where's your manners?" Barbara taunted, waving the book high above her head, just out of his reach. "What would Alfred say if he saw you right now?"

"He'd say, 'Dick, go kick her butt'." Dick mumbled, turning even redder, if possible, at the mention of his butler.

"Dick!" Barbara gasped, pretending to be offended. "That was rude!" She hit him on the head with the textbook, before dropping it into his arms and stomping out the door, her nose held in the air.

Dick quickly shoved the book in his bag before slinging it over his shoulder and hurried after her. He caught up to her as they neared the door that led into the school courtyard near the entrance. He noticed she was dressed in her Gotham Academy uniform like he was; it made him wonder what she'd be doing in school at this time during the year. She was a year older than him and was already on the list for the Academy; there was no cause for her to take summer classes.

"So Babs, why're you in school on this fine summer day?" He asked, moving ahead to hold the door open for her. Rude, psh, he'd show her.

"I could ask the same of you, Shortstop." Shortstop. The name had nothing to do with baseball.

"I, my fair maiden, am learning of the 'finer points of education', and displaying my 'above-average work ethic'."

"Still trying to skip that grade?" Barbara asked, knowing of his previous attempts at trying to move up into her class. He'd always been far ahead of the rest of his class, but the teachers had refused to move him up, despite the fact that he'd aced nearly all his subjects, with minimal studying, mind you, for the past few years. He was never told flat out, but he knew it because the teachers thought he wasn't mature enough to be with kids a year older than him. He was already small in his own grade, and moving up a grade wouldn't help that. Finally, though, Bruce had talked to them and they'd agreed.

"For your information, Babs, I _am_ skipping that grade. I just have to take a couple classes to prove to them that I'm ready. Like my near-perfect grades don't already prove that."

Barbara just laughed again, giving Dick a light shove. "Nerd."

"Shut up." Then, remembering his first question: "So, why are you here? You're obviously not as smart as me, so you wouldn't be moving up a grade."

"No, I'm not a school obsessed nerd with no life like some." If only she knew. "I'm just here scouting out the gym for the gymnastics team. I'm hoping to make the varsity team."

Dick snorted. "Was there ever any doubt you wouldn't?"

"Dick!" She protested, giving him a light hit on the head. Dick smirked, pushing her hand away as she tried to mess up his neatly gelled hair. The continued like that, Barbara trying to get her hands on Dick's head as he tried to avoid her, until they reached the front gate where a black luxury car stalled, an elderly man behind the wheel.

"So Dick," Barbara asked, finally giving up on messing up his hair. "Are you doing anything this week?"

"Umm, sorry Babs," He replied, glancing at Alfred who was giving him a rather annoyed look. He'd taken longer than he'd originally expected, seeing as he'd had some textbook problems. Or height problems, whichever one preferred. "I'm kinda busy this week." He finished regretfully, thinking of Batman's promise to him.

"It's okay, maybe next week?"

"Yeah, next week maybe." He watched her as she retreated to where her father's police car waited, her red hair bouncing on her back and her pathetically short skirt swishing back and forth. He continued staring as she got in the car and it drove off, leaving a pale cloud of gray smoke behind. Then Alfred cleared his throat expectantly, giving him a meaningful look. Dick turned away quickly, opening the door and climbing in.

"Good class today, Master Richard?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Sorry I was late Al, had a bit of a problem, um, getting a textbook." He refrained from saying reaching.

oOo

When Dick got home, he immediately set to work finishing his small amount of homework he had for his pre-calculus class. His previous school hadn't offered math past Algebra II, so he since he already had to take two classes over the summer, he'd thought he might as well take pre-calc since he wanted to take calculus in the fall.

Getting his homework done before tomorrow was a priority as Batman only said he'd fulfill his promise if Dick finished his homework. At the thought of Batman's promise, Dick shivered slightly in excitement. Or was that Robin shivering in excitement? The promise did, after all, involve the Justice League which was clearly Robin's domain. Finally, he'd be trusted with one of the League's biggest secrets! Or so they thought it was one of their biggest secrets. It had taken Dick only a few days of being Batman's side- partner- to discover the location of their headquarters- their real headquarters, no the tourist spot. And now he was going to get his first look at it.

He reached for another one of Alfred's cookies, which Alfred made in a special way for him, fantasizing once again at what it would be like. Of course Kid Flash, Aqualad and Speedy would be there too, but he was relieved; it would be extremely nerve-wracking to go alone. Not that the Boy Wonder ever showed fear….

"Master Richard, are finished with your homework?" Alfred's voice drifted in from somewhere in the vast mansion.

"Almost, Al." Homework, right. Focus, Grayson, focus. He bent back over his paper, biting the end of his pencil as his brain shifted into math gear. Barbara always told him that was one of his only gears. He told her to shut up. The sound of the front door opening broke Dick away from his work again as the sound of heavy footsteps and a coat being hung a hook reached his ears. Bruce.

"Hey Bruce," Dick called when the billionaire walked into the more showy part of the kitchen, loosening his tie and unbuttoning the top of his white shirt.

"Hello, Dick." He replied, passing by and ruffling Dick's hair, messing up the perfectly gelled style.

"Too much gel, Dick. Your hair feels like plastic." Typical Bruce. He was very particular about how Dick styled his hair for school.

"Well, _someone_ wasn't here to help me this morning."

Bruce only grunted, reaching for a glass in the cupboard as Alfred walked in, carrying a tray from the area of the kitchen that was used for cooking, not showing off.

"Ah, Master Bruce, you're home. I presume you had a productive day?"

"It was alright, Alfred." Dick's guardian replied, heading towards the room Alfred came from with his glass in hand. Alfred, however, snatched it out of his hand; setting down his tray which Dick now saw had more cookies on it.

"Allow me, Master Bruce."

"Thanks, Alfred." Bruce collapsed into a chair across from Dick as Alfred disappeared into the other room. Dick could tell that the businessman was tired, exhausted even. He's left early that morning, before Dick had gotten up, and gone to a meeting in downtown Gotham after a late night patrolling as the Batman. The playboy billionaire let out a sigh, propping his elbows on the table and putting his head in his hands.

As much as Dick wished he'd talk to him, he knew that the man was running on empty, so he dutifully turned his attention back to his homework, reaching for a hot cookie from the new tray. Bruce could eat the cold ones, or else Alfred could recycle them or something. Could one recycle cookies? Dick wondered, turning his over in hand, running possible cookie recycling scenarios through his head. Recycling. Did that mean that when one recycled something they were simply cycling it again? That actually made sense, Dick concluded, for when Alfred made cookies he kind of went through a cycle. First he mixed the butter, sugar and eggs, then added flour, vanilla and whatever he used to make them so good, and finally he baked them. It was definitely a cycle, Dick decided, so for one to _re_cycle cookies, one would simply go through that cycle again? But wouldn't one have to break down the cookies into their base components first? Was that even chemically possible? When one baked a cookie was chemical change or physical change taking place? Maybe it wasn't possible to recycle cookies…. Well, maybe Martian Manhunter could, with is telekinetic powers, or Warp could simply rewind to before the ingredients were mixed in the first place, but that was cheating-

"Dick, are you going to eat that cookie, or just stare at it? I really don't think it resembles Barbara Gordon in any way…."

"Bruce!" Dick exclaimed, blushing furiously as he shoved the cookie into his mouth, averting his eyes to his math paper. Why did he have to be so observative? It seemed that the man thought Dick had some sort of crush on the redhead, which was most definitely _not_ the case, but he brought it up just to tease him. Dick looked up to see Bruce raising a questioning eyebrow at, a ghost of a smile on his face.

"I wasn't staring at the cookie!" Dick protested, but Bruce only pretended to nod knowingly. Dick scowled, crossing his arms in a childish manner and faking a pout. Then, suddenly remember what he'd been mulling over the last few minutes:

"Bruce, does cookie baking result in chemical or physical change?" Dick was now sitting up straight, his previous embarrassment forgotten as he looked expectantly to his guardian for an answer. When Bruce gave him a slightly taken look (though this was a typical question he could expect to receive from Dick, so he really shouldn't be all that surprised anymore), he continued:

"Well, I mean physical change can generally be undone, while chemical change can't, so if cookie baking resulted in only physical change then one could theoretically recycle a cookie, cause recycle means basically cycling something again, or so the prefix implies, and when one bakes cookies they go through a cycle, so in order to recycle a cookie one would have to go through the cycle again, which would mean the cookie would have to be reverted to its base components, or ingredients, and that could only happen if it went through only physical change. If it went through chemical change than it would be virtually impossible to revert it back, cause chemical change means that it can't be undone, but maybe Martian Manhunter could do, or Warp, but that would be cheating. Do you think Martian Manhunter can undo chemical change, cause I really don't know the full extent of his powers, but you probably do and-"

"Dick?" Bruce finally managed to get in. "Is this what you were thinking about when you were staring at the cookie?" He asked, smiling a bit more now at his wards antics.

"Um, yeah. So, my question is, cookie baking: chemical or physical. Oh, and can Martian Manhunter undo chemical change?"

"Well," Bruce started slowly, "Chemical change, more precisely stated than simply being irreversible, involves a color change, a gas given off, a precipitate formed or a large energy change. So, that would mean…" He prompted, looking across the table at the boy whose face was now scrunched up in concentration.

"Cookies brown on top; color change." Dick began, his brain churning. "I think there's a chemical reaction involved, resulting in the cookies rising and giving off C02 gas; that's obviously gas being given off…."

"And the denaturation of the egg and milk and flour protein." Bruce added.

"Makes it a chemical change without a question," Dick finished, his face falling slightly at the revelation. It did not appear that could cookies could be recycled. It also seemed that someone would have to eat the cold ones. Unless of course Alfred reheated them or something, but that wasn't nearly as riveting as the prospect of recycling them.

"And as for whether Martian Manhunter can reverse chemical change: you'll have to ask him yourself." Bruce stood up, pulling off his tie completely and setting his empty cup, which Dick hadn't noticed Alfred bring back, on the counter. Bruce looked down at him expectantly.

"Homework done?"

"Um, well, didn't I just have a chemistry lesson or something?" Dick asked, loath to finish his math now that Bruce was obviously preparing to go into the Batcave. Bruce gave a not-quite-batglare, more of a Bruce Wayne glare (still rather unnerving if one wasn't use to it). "Fine." Dick sighed, "I'm almost done, so don't do anything cool without me."

"We'll see." Bruce chuckled with a mischievous grin, briskly exiting the room and making his way towards the old clock in the study, tossing his tie over a chair on his way out.

"Bruce!"

**oOo**

Fifteen minutes later found Dick, now dressed as Robin, hovering around the Bat-computer as Bruce, now Batman, brought up some files of recent news reports. They were all on a villain named Mister Freeze who'd been spotted around the parks of Gotham earlier that day and the day previous, though until that afternoon hadn't been causing trouble. He'd broken his streak of innocence when he'd attempted to freeze a couple walking through the park earlier that day, but the couple were more agile than they appeared and had managed to get away. Commissioner Gordon had called for the ice villains arrest and he was now being tracked through Gotham, though no one had had any luck finding him yet. But now Batman was prepared to change that.

"So, we go out, catch this guy, hand him over to the police. Piece of cake." Robin said with a hint of annoyance. Why did this guy have to choose now to strike? He wondered angrily. If Icee wasn't caught by tomorrow then Robin would miss Batman's promise. Robin scowled at the idea. This guy was so getting caught.

"Robin, we must proceed cautiously." Batman reminded, wanting to subdue his fiery partner.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But we can proceed cautiously and speedily."

"I take it you're excited for tomorrow then?" This was Bruce Wayne talking. Batman never showed this kind of emotion. Robin only nodded, attempting to be as impassive as his mentor. If Batman smiled, he would have right then, but as it was he only turned back to his computer, running through the files again and smiling inwardly at the young boy.

oOo

"Come on, come on." Robin urged quietly from his perch on the roof of an apartment complex. His feet were beginning to fall asleep from being in his current position for so long and there were a thousand itches he desperately wanted to scratch. But, as was the case with stakeouts, he had to remain as still as humanly, or un-humanly he thought wryly, possible so itching was out of the question. If only stupid Mister Freezey or whatever would show his face, they could wrap this up and go home. Normally, Robin loved going on patrol, even if it involved itchy stakeouts, but he wasn't in the mood to deal with that could potentially get in the way of Batman's promise. And this Ice Villain definitely counted.

They'd been staking out an apparent target of his for two hours, waiting for him to show his face. Apparently he was after a rather large diamond (typical) which was in possession of one of the owners of the apartments upon which Robin crouched, though why anyone with a stupid rock that valuable would live in a cruddy old apartment was beyond the Boy Wonder. The police were seemingly tipped off by a man who'd defected from Mister Freeze's legion of duped thugs after he learned of the villain's _cold_ demeanor. It was to be expected. Villains rarely held anybody's loyalty for long, as they were prone to eradicating any of their force at a moment's notice.

A flash of color caught Robin's eye from across the street, or rather the glare of light reflecting of something clear and shiny- something like a helmet. Pushing the button on his utility belt which would alert Batman to his find, Robin cautiously crept along the roof trying to catch a glimpse of whatever he'd seen previously. Judging from the light reflection it had given off, it seemed plausible to assume that it came from Mister Icee's helmet. There! There it was again, disappearing behind the apartment mirroring Robin's. The acrobat shot his grappling gun across the narrow alley-like road, waiting until it latched onto the roof of the apartment opposite him, and swung over, landing nimbly on the on the gravel strewn rooftop. Crouching low, Robin scurried across to the other side and peered cautiously over the edge into another alley.

Sure enough, Mister Freeze and a gang of hoods were not-so-stealthily picking their way along the street, appearing to be making a beeline to a more high class apartment than the ones Robin had been hanging around the top of. They seemed to be oblivious to the fact that they were making an incredible amount of noise, running into garbage cans and babbling rather loudly under their breath. Freezey wasn't even trying to keep them in check, his eyes, behind his astronaut-like helmet, were firmly fixed on his target. Then again, the ice villain's suit didn't appear to be designed for stealth, what with the clunky body armor and giant tank on his back. He made a slight raucous simply walking and Robin was surprised he hadn't been caught yet.

Robin quickly assessed the situation: Freezey had eight other ruffians with him, three of whom were outright carrying guns while the others were armed with clubs, bludgeons or metal pipes, though probably had firearms on their person somewhere. Monsieur Ice-man himself was carrying an extremely heavy looking machinegun-like weapon which the Boy Wonder knew was capable of firing ice. Eight. Batman and Robin could easily take down eight, especially seeing as these particular eight seemed pathetically under trained, judging from their practically non-existent stealth skills. Freezey never joined up with any serial killers or mass murderers; he wasn't a cold blooded killer like most of Gotham's villain population as his motives involved saving lives, mostly his and his frozen wife's, so he'd never sunk that low. Which was perfectly fine with Robin.

Icee himself might prove a bit of an issue, Robin thought, but he and Batman had taken him down before and he didn't seem to be doing so hot, if his back up was anything to go by. Robin pressed the small earpiece in his ear, waiting until he heard Batman's gruff voice on the other end, telling him he'd received his coordinates and was concealed behind a chimney on the roof of the apartment in question.

"Take it slow, don't underestimate him." Was all Robin was given by way of instruction, but it was more than enough. He saw briefly the corner of a black cape as Batman moved into position. The Boy Wonder crept over to the very edge of the roof, crouching down and checking himself in preparation for a fight. What came next was Robin's favorite part of his job. This will be good, he thought as Mister Freeze neared the entrance to the apartment. The villain extracted something from somewhere in his cyro-suit and was heading to pick the lock when a dark shadow fell over him and the outline of Gotham's vigilante flashed by his face. Batman had leapt from the roof, his cape splayed out as he landed in front of the ice villain. Batman's gravelly voice echoed softly throughout the alley, causing Robin to smirk in excitement.

"Not today, Freeze." He ground out, throwing a batarang at the villains raised ice-gun. Most of his thug's faces quickly turned into masks of terror, they'd obviously not been expecting a visit from the Bat, and they abruptly pivoted and took off. My turn, Robin thought gleefully. He launched himself from his perch on the roof with a cackle, straight over the street, plummeting quickly towards the ground. He turned two flips before landing directly in front of the foremost fleeing hoodlum.

"Going somewhere?" He asked casually, pulling out two batarangs. The men blanched and Robin gave them a devious smile before leaping at one who'd recovered faster than the others and thought it a good idea to try to attack the Boy Wonder. Note: not good idea.

The man threw a punch which Robin easily dodged and quickly downed the man with a roundhouse kick to the head. Too easy, he thought, handspringing to the next man. As he dodged and weaved futile and rather lame attempts at hitting him, he threw a glance over to where Batman was battling Freezey. The ice wielding man was doing his best to hit the Bat with a shot of ice, but Robin was happy to see his mentor easily dancing out of his way, obviously infuriating the man.

Suddenly a fist came out of nowhere and clipped Robin in the jaw, jerking his head painfully backwards and causing his neck to pop. Not cool. Instead of trying to bring his weight forwards again, Robin used the momentum from the punch and back handspringed away from his attacker, successfully taking out a crowbar wielding hood. Jeepers, Robin hated crowbars. Jeepers? He was spending way too much time with Alfred. Surveying the scene, Robin found only five guys left, though obviously they were they better trained ones. If any of them were even trained at all.

They finally seemed to see that attacking individually wasn't going too hot for them and by some unspoken agreement, all rushed forward at the same time. Suddenly a shot went off and Robin immediately ducked, feeling the bullet ruffle his hair. It seemed they could actually use those guns. Spinning around, Robin quickly knocked the gun out of the unsuspecting bearers hand; he seemed to have thought he hit the boy. His mistake. Another bullet was fired, this one from the guy immediately to Robin's left, but the aim was off and missed the young vigilante by almost a foot.

Robin leaped infuriatingly around the thugs, letting them think they'd gotten him, and then leaping out of their way at the last second. He cackled eerily as he took out another one, grabbing his weapon and chucking it down the street. One managed to land a solid punch on the boy's arm, but he'd left his hand behind for too long and soon had a least a badly bruised wrist from a right-handed chop. Another possessed enough brain power to figure out that he weighed almost two hundred pounds more than the small, lithe acrobat and nearly managed the suffocate Robin by falling on him, but the vigilante had pinched a pressure point, sending the hunk of a man shooting to his feet in pain. Most had either lost their guns or given up using them as they only ended up hitting each other and within a few minutes all eight of the men lay on the ground senseless or bound up.

Robin retrieved one of his eskrima sticks which had been knocked from his grip by one of the hoods and sprinted over to where Batman and Freezey were still engaged in intense combat. Robin suddenly had the urge cheer wildly, wave a flag with Batman's logo on it, and generally act like a crazed fan a sporting event. He refrained, though, and instead pulled out another batarang and leaped up, landing deftly on the helmet of the ice villain. He jabbed the batarangs quickly into the seams around the edges of the helmet, laughing:

"Miss me, Freezey?"

"Boy Blunder." He sighed, sounding annoyed. His voice was echo-y almost, from the helmet and he sounded like he had a sore throat, per usual.

"Catch a cold, Icee?" He asked, flipping off as the ice gun came barreling towards his head. He landed in a crouch next to his mentor who stood in battle position. "Get it, cause cold like sick, and you're an ice villain?" Robin asked, jumping out of the way as a blast from the ice gun forced the Dynamic Duo apart.

"Yes, I get it." Mister Freeze answered, his voice showing he was tired of the Boy Wonder's jokes. But, come on, he had some good ones!

Mister Freeze began shooting blasts of ice at Robin, forcing him to continuously fling himself out of the way. Batman, using Freeze's momentary distraction, snuck behind him, intending to shove a batarang in his helmet. Robin, seeing what Batman was doing, sprang up onto a stack of crates, waving impishly at the ice villain. Mister Freeze fired a heavy blast a Robin, who only moved at the last minute, leaping straight up and over the stream of ice, the crates where he'd been only a moment ago, coated in it. However, Freeze seemed to have been expecting such a reaction from Robin and next thing the boy new, he felt a sharp pain in upper arm, which was soon replaced by frigid cold. Robin tumbled to the concrete, rolling to reduce the impact of landing, managing to roll back to his feet, only to see Freezey shoot a blast at Batman, forcing the vigilante to throw himself behind the corner of a wall. Robin watched as the ice villain turned on his heel and disappeared into the darkness, calling after over his shoulder:

"Maybe some other time, then." They'd lost him. Great.

* * *

><p><strong>There it is! The first chapter! Its really long, so I don't think my other ones will be as long... Next chapter will have some of the team in it!<strong>

**Review pretty please and tell me your thoughts!**

**Alex out.  
><strong>


	2. Don't Call Us Sidekicks

A/N: I apologize for any typos, as I know i found some in my other chapter. If you message me them, i will try to fix them.

Anyways, thanks to **Wolfram003, BrittJ101**, **A-list Goddess**, and **I****. Love. Dick. Grayson ** (heehee, I love him too! had to add spaces to your name, otherwise it wouldn't show up)for reviewing. I love you guys! And thanks to everyone who favorited/alerted, I love you too! Keep reviewing and here's the next chapter!

Disclaimer: Don't own Young Justice (are these really necessary?)

* * *

><p>Robin subconsciously rubbed the bandaged area of his upper arm, pausing for a moment to stare out over the scene displayed before him. It was a perfect Fourth of July day, the sun shining bright and a slight breeze to take off the heat of midsummer. The trees of Gotham Park waved gently back and forth as families sat underneath them stretched out on blankets and cooking hotdogs over grills. Robin smiled, enjoying how serene it looked, almost making him wish he could enjoy it too.<p>

Him and Bruce had never really celebrated Independence; not in this way anyway. Bruce always made a big deal about the holiday, but never went out into the park to have a picnic, preferring to sit at home and mull over the history of it. Dick, if it was a nice day, would go outside and shoot some hoops; recently he'd taken to hanging out with Barbara for a few hours as Bruce didn't usually come out from his secluded solitude until dinner. Alfred would always cook a special dinner, but no matter how good it was, it never compared to hotdogs on the grill. Dick had gotten used to this form of celebration, but he still sometimes longed spend the day with Bruce, whatever they did. Alfred said that the holiday reminded Bruce of his parents, which was why he stayed inside and acted almost downcast. The holiday reminded Dick of his parents, which was why he wanted to go outside and celebrate it.

Now here he was, in Gotham Park on a perfect day, Bruce hanging around nearby as the Batman, and all Robin wanted to do was leave. Any other year he'd have given anything to spend the Fourth with Bruce, even it meant chasing down one of Gotham's criminals, but this year all he wanted to do was get over to the Hall of Justice and then from there to the League Headquarters. This detour could cause him to be late. Not that Robin was always super worried about being perfectly punctual, but this was something he didn't want to miss. If only Freezey could see it the same way he did.

After Mister Freeze's escape the night before, Robin and Batman had returned dejectedly to the Batcave, Batman unable to pick on his trail again. Batman had then had to break the ice of Robin's arm from Freezey's ice gun (painful, to say the least) and they'd both gone to bed feeling despondent. The next morning, though, Batman had gotten a call from the Commissioner that Freeze was wreaking havoc in Gotham Park, freezing people at random. It seemed he wasn't too happy either about not being able to spend the Fourth with his family. They'd suited up and immediately headed over to the park, hitting the rooftops and treetops as they kept constant vigilance for the ice villain.

There! Robin immediately radioed Batman and sent him his coordinates as he shot a grappling hook towards a tree nearer to the suddenly revealed cyro-suited man. Robin landed neatly in a tall oak tree, watching as Mister Freeze jumped down from a ledge he'd frozen and began terrorizing a family, shooting his ice gun at them, instantly freezing them and their picnic, terrified expressions on their faces. He turned, aiming his weapon at a small crowd of people running away. Robin acted fast, whipping out a batarang which hit its target perfectly, knocking Freezey's gun off target and sending him stumbling over from the force of the hit.

"Batman," he breathed. "I was wondering when-"

Robin cut him off a cackle, leaping from his spot in the tree and flying through the air, landed directly on the ice villain's helmet, succeeding in cracking it and sending its wearer to the ground. He used the helmet as a spring board, flipping off him and landing in a crouch on the grass, sending two batarangs flying at the man on the ground, cracking his helmet even more. Freeze looked annoyed, his face set in a grimace as he picked himself up off the ground.

"Oh, Boy Wonder," he sighed, sounding disappointed. "The Bat sent you to drag me off to prison? Frankly, I'm underwhelmed."

Robin sighed, looking past Freeze at his mentor now hiding in the treetops. He shot him a look and Robin frowned.

"That's great, but I'm kinda in a hurry here." He said, putting his hands on his hips. Bats, didn't know the meaning of the word _quickly_. He should really take some lessons from the Flash.

"Kids," Freeze complained, obviously thinking Robin had been talking to him. Robin rolled his eyes behind his mask. He was not a kid! "Always in such a rush." He straightend fully, smiling as he aimed his ice gun at the boy in front of him. "I prefer to preserve these moments… forever."

Robin heard the gun firing up. "Not talking to you." He said through gritted teeth. He knew Batman was just trying to get on his nerves, taking so long. Freezey's smile faded as he felt a shadow fall over him. Robin smirked. Batman really did love dramatic entrances. Turning around Mister Freeze and Robin watched as Batman seemingly shot out of nowhere into the sky, his cape splayed out like wings, the sun making him look like a silhouette. Freeze had one moment to look terrified before Batman's fist slammed into his helmet and it was lights out for him. Finally!

"Who's underwhelmed now?" Robin asked, running over stand over the defeated villain. He was out cold. Batman's punch would do that to you.

Batman quickly cuffed his arms with Batcuffs and pushed a button on his utility belt alerting the police force that he'd been caught. Robin sighed impatiently as Batman hauled the man up, propping him up against a pile of dirt and began disarming him. Robin waited patiently-ish for five minutes, tapping his foot as Batman rechecked the villain for weapons at least five hundred times until he looked satisfied.

"Can we go now?" Robin finally asked, not wanting to have to wait for the police force to take Freezey to jail.

Batman gave him a look, but nodded, shooting a grappling hook back towards where the Batmobile was parked. Robin whooped, following him, impatiently waiting for his mentor to start the car, and then tapping his fingers on the door until they finally got to their destination.

Speedy and Aqualad were just arriving also, along with their mentors, the Arrow of the Green color and the Man of Water. Batman and Robin went out to stand by them, the other two peering around for a sign of the speedsters. Robin smirked smugly at Speedy who was standing next to his mentor, trying for all the world to look serious and foreboding in his rather lame yellow hard hat area-like hat and skirt-like red tunic. The archers didn't have the best fashion sense in Robin's opinion.

Speedy noticed Robin's face and narrowed his eyes at the younger boy, crossing his arms over his chest. While the two were close friends, Robin knew Speedy was jealous of him, being the first sidekick, er partner, and all and Robin was secretly jealous of Speedy superior age and the trust the rest of the League put in him because of it. This caused Speedy to try to show up Robin whenever possible and Robin to try to annoy Speedy to the fullest extent whenever they got together, which, their mentors always said, thankfully wasn't too often. Robin, despite being the first, was one of the youngest sidekicks and he didn't always take kindly to it. Even now, Aqualad and Speedy, the former sixteen and the other eighteen, were on par with their mentors heights, towering over Robin and making him feel, if only in the slightest, intimidated. He knew he could probably take down either of the two with his Bat-smarts, but if it came to hand-to-hand combat, they'd probably have the upper hand because of their size and strength. Pushing such thoughts aside, Robin decided to rub Speedy in the wrong direction.

"Hey Speedy, finally figure out an excuse as to why your names _Speedy_ when you're an archer?" People always questioned Speedy about his name; that or called Kid Flash Speedy and him 'that red archer guy', which he hated even more.

"Robin, do you know how immature and, quite frankly, lame that just sounded?" He growled, his expression emotionless to most, except Robin who caught the tightening of his jaw and clenching of his fists.

"Someone crabby today?" The acrobat asked, gleefully bouncing around the older sidekick in a manner which he knew annoyed him. "Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"You know what's happening today." The red haired archer ground out, seemingly wanting Robin to take the hint. Robin did, but in a different way.

"So, you're nervous." The younger boy stated, cackling and sending a knowing smirk to his friend.

"I never said that!" The redhead exclaimed indignantly. He was saved from having to explain to Robin exactly what he'd meant by his previous comment by the arrival of the Flashes. Flash zoomed up, Kid Flash quickly skidding to a halt beside him, his shoulders immediately slumping.

"Ah man!" The red and yellow speedster exclaimed. "I knew we'd be the last ones here."

Batman glared at him, then put a hand on Robin's shoulder, his face coming as close to a smile as it ever did.

"Today is the day." He said quietly. Robin smiled; he'd been waiting for this day since he first learned of the Justice League.

"Welcome to the Hall of Justice." Green Arrow announced rather needlessly, Aquaman saying even more needlessly how it was the headquarters of the Justice League. Either, Speedy and Aqualad were completely clueless and had to have that all explained to them or their mentors were exceedingly thick-skulled.

Robin could feel Kid Flash vibrating beside him as they walked through throngs of civilians all snapping photos and cheering on their way to the entrance of the Hall of Justice. Kid Flash, of the other _partners, _was who he was closest, and was the only one who knew his secret identity. They even hung out as civilians sometimes, even though Wally was two years older than him. But what Kid Flash had in age, and height, he lost in maturity level, so they got along pretty well.

"Dude, chill out, you're gonna drill a hole in the ground."

"First time in the Hall of Justice. I'm a little overwhelmed."

Robin rolled his eyes. That was the understatement of the century. Then suddenly he was hit by a thought. "You're overwhelmed, freeze was underwhelmed; why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?"

"Grow up." Speedy smirked, crouching down to elbow him in what was meant to be the ribs but ended being his hurt arm.

"Ouch!"

"You're too short." Was all Speedy said in his defense.

"Whatcha do to your arm?" Kid Flash asked.

"Mister Freeze."

"You had an ice villain attack too?"

"Yep."

"Weird."

The finally reached the doors, revealing giant statues of the original members of the Justice League. It was pretty, Robin laughed to himself, whelming to say the least, but he'd seen it before so all he could think about this time was how awkward a view it was when one stood directly below them. The statue of his mentor was to Superman's right, but Robin always thought they totally exaggerated his muscles. Yeah, he was strong, but let's not get carried away here. The statues all looked kind of robot-ish, with their knee joints standing out and their chiseled features. It was cool, but Robin hoped that by the time a statue was made of _him, _the sculptures would be a little more talented. Well, except the muscle thing, they could totally exaggerate his muscles as much as they wanted.

Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado greeted them at the entrance and explained all the stuff that was now available to them, not like Robin needed any of it anyways, living with the richest man in Gotham and all, and then gave them a dramatic welcoming in which Kid Flash looked like he was going to pee his pants, and led them all into the library. Robin and Wally quickly themselves down onto the chairs, Aqualad following their example slowly, but Speedy remained standing, glaring at the older heroes. Robin was content to wait here until they showed them the _real_ deal. After all, the Hall was really only a tourist attraction, which was shown by the glass windows near the ceiling where civilians stood snapping pictures. Robin looked up briefly at the people, a strange desire to see Barbara up there watching him, even if she didn't know who he was. Of course she wasn't though. His head snapped up at Batman's voice.

"Quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of four ice villains attacking on the same day." Now this sounded like something that would take place in the Headquarters. "We shouldn't be long." Okay, not what Robin was expecting to hear. It almost sounded like they were _not _planning on taking them up to the real Headquarters after all. Speedy seemed to be getting the same vibes. As the computer announced that it recognized the heroes Speedy finally burst.

"That's it?" He almost yelled. "This was the day we were supposed to finally take the first step to becoming full-fledged members of the League! That would involve a look at the _real _headquarters, not some glorified backstage pass!"

Aquaman attempted to placate him in the not-so-helpful way he always does, but it seemed Speedy had a lot of steam to blow and was angry. Really angry.

"Why does it matter what side of the glass we're on?" He demanded, waving his hand towards the tourists. "You're treating us like kids! Worse, you're treating us like sidekicks." He turned to Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad. "Are you really going to stand for this?"

"Well," Kid Flash began. "I thought that we _were_ taking the first step, you know, first look at the HQ." Did KF really not know? Robin didn't say anything, though, waiting to see what Speedy would say. He seemed to have been thinking along the same lines as Robin as he said:

"You don't know, do you?" Both Aqualad and Kid Flash looked blank. Really, Aqualad, you too? Robin thought. He had had faith in Aqualad at least to figure it out, cause really, it was asking a lot KF.

"This isn't the real HQ." Speedy continued, glaring angrily at the Justice League members. "The real headquarters is a floating watchtower in space."

KF and Aqualad both gaped. They were rather dense, Robin decided. The League members also looked taken aback, all of them glaring angrily at Green Arrow. Did they really expect their own partners not to know where they went almost every week? Stealing a glance at Batman, he saw he was sending a look at Robin which told him not to mention the fact that he had known too. Robin considered doing just that, just to make his mentor angry. This was so not what he'd been expecting and frankly he wasn't too happy about it. He had half a mind to stand up with Speedy and join the yelling match, but decided better on it, secretly knowing he'd let it all loose on Batman later.

Speedy glared at Green Arrow, then reached up and pulled off his lame construction hat and chucked it to the ground. "I'm through." He said, then turned on his heel and stopped out past the other sidekicks who watched stunned. As he passed them he muttered under breath:

"I guess they were right about you three: you aren't ready." And then he was gone. At least he left in style, Robin thought, looking at the spot where his lame hat lay abandoned on the floor. Speedy: what a drama queen.

"Roy…" Green Arrow called, but he was already gone. Robin glanced over at Kid Flash and Aqualad, KF mouthing 'what?' and Aqualad looking worried. Robin just rolled his eyes and mouthed 'quitter'. He seriously considered leaving with Speedy; after all, Batman had said this was_ the_ day. Batman had never lied to him, never! Well, it wasn't really a lie, but it was still an omission of the truth, so it was nearly as bad. The other two looked unsure what to do, looking at their mentors, and then back to the door through which Speedy had exited. Thoughts flew through Robin's head a mile a minute. To leave or not to leave.

As much as he wanted to piss off Batman, deep down, Robin really didn't want to leave him. Not yet anyway. He _was_ only thirteen. Speedy was eighteen- he could go off alone without people following him. Robin on the other hand relied on Batman for a home. As mad as he was right now, he knew he couldn't leave his mentor. Not yet. Someday he would; someday he'd either get into the League or leave it altogether and fight crime completely solo, but until that day he'd have to settle for giving the Bat a little of his own medicine. See how he'd feel being left out of the loop. If the League wouldn't let them work with their team, then they'd work by themselves as their own team.

**PAGEBREAK**

A half hour later found them doing just that.

After Speedy's outburst, the League members had beamed up into the Watchtower, something about League business, leaving their partners alone in the library. First mistake. Their second was letting slip something about a fire at a place called Cadmus. Their final mistake was really only Batman's: the Hall's computer ran on the same system as the Batcave. After KF and Aqualad had gotten over the fact that their mentors weren't perfect and that Aqualad's "king" wasn't nearly as great as he was made out to be, they'd decided that the best course of action was to prove to the League and their mentors that they were "ready".

Robin, of all of them, was the least affected by what had taken place; though it was probably because he'd known about the HQ in the first place, hence not discovering that his mentor had lied to him. Batman had never said that the Hall was their Headquarters as he knew Robin had figured out the location of the real one within a couple months. Sure he was mad about not being taken up into the real one, but he didn't have as strong of feelings of betrayal the others did.

After they'd pulled themselves together, Robin had hacked into the League computer and pulled up the location of Cadmus. Finding it close, they'd left immediately, each glancing at Speedy's hat as they walked by and wondering if they'd ever get the guts- or the reason- the ditch their mentors. None of them really believed it would happen soon, but after today, it seemed a lot sooner than before. They'd reached the fire as the sun had nearly set and wasted no time rescuing the remaining civilians in the building. They then climbed into the building as the fire was being put out, and set to work looking for clues about a secret lab.

"I appreciate the help." Aqualad said with sarcasm Robin never knew he had, climbing in the window and stowing his water bearers.

"You handled it." Robin told him, already hacking into a computer while Kid Flash riffled through a book, looking extremely confused. Had that kid ever read a book before? He sure didn't act like. "Besides," Robin added. "We're here to investigate. Poetic justice and all that."

"It sure is dark in here." The Atlantian commented, wandering around the room they were in.

"Fire probably took out the lights."

"Hey, guys, come here!" Kid Flash shouted, jumping up and down.

"What?" They both asked when they'd rushed over.

"I found an elevator!" Great, Robin thought sarcastically, but pulled up a holographic computer from his gauntlet and began hacking into the elevator, a hunch suddenly forming.

"There was something creepy going into it!" Kid Flash continued, looking a little freaked out. "It looked kinda like E.T. from that really creepy movie that all parents make their kids watch cause they remember watching it when _they_ were kids, but it really gives the kids nightmares for months."

"I think that was only you." Robin murmured, then: "Guys, it's a high-speed express elevator. But why would one be in a two story building?"

Aqualad had already crossed the distance and pried open the doors. Robin hurried over, gaping at what he saw. The elevator shaft went on for what looked like miles, the bottom not even visible in the gloom.

"Wicked." KF mumbled, cautiously peering over the edge. "Should we throw a flare down there or something?"

"You got a flare on you?" Robin asked.

"Um, no."

"Didn't think so." Robin shot a grappling hook to the ceiling, attached the end to his utility belt and leaped over the edge, plummeting immediately down into the darkness. As he went down he heard Kid Flash comment to Aqualad something about 'Kid Flare'. Truthfully, he had a flare on him, but this was way more fun. Suddenly his line went taught. _I've reached the end of my rope_, he thought, then laughed at what he'd just said. He swung his legs back and forth before letting go, flying forward onto a ledge. He was KF and Aqualad slide down his rope behind him. Someone would get some serious rope-burn.

Once on the ledge, he sat down quickly, not wanting to lose his balance, and hacked into the elevator door in front of him, opening it as his teammates landed on the ledge beside him. They charged in, rather heedlessly and nearly ran into a stampede of elephants. Robin did a double take, staring at the massive creatures which filled the equally massive corridor in front of him. Kid Flash, going super-speed had been unable stop in time and went sliding under the elephant-like creature's legs, nearly turning into a speedster pancake. He leapt up and flew back to the others.

"I will tell you now, not a pretty view under there."

Robin laughed and Aqualad raised a quizzical eyebrow at him, but didn't say anything. He would have to get used to this sort of thing if he was going to be spending time with KF and the Boy Wonder.

On closer inspection, it was made clear that the elephant-creatures actually resembled more closely giant half hippo half gorilla monsters and each had a small, white thing on its head, the things horns glowing red every now and then. The boys eyes widened as the troop of hippo-gorillas made its way by, continuing down the seemingly endless hallway. Aqualad narrowed his eyebrows, an intense expression on his face.

"No, nothing odd going on here." He said, his sarcasm rather failing. Seriously, since when was he involved in the art of aforementioned way of speaking?

They continued on their way through the facility, avoiding run-ins with other giant mutants, eventually coming to a room bigger than any they'd seen previously. It housed giant glass tubes which reached to the ceiling, each containing a white creature which reminded Robin strongly of a kind of sea creature which would only live in the deepest depths of the ocean. The room was filled with them, electricity coming off of their bodies in flashes of lightning.

"So, this is how they keep Cadmus off the grid. They generate their own electricity." Kid Flashed proclaimed. "With these… things." He added, gesturing to the electricity creatures.

"Huh, must be what these things are bred for." Robin mused, heading over to a computer and plugging in the USB from his gauntlet.

"The name Cadmus gives us a hint." Aqualad added suddenly. "The Cadmus in ancient myth created its new life by sewing dragon's teeth into the earth."

"These guys are making their own life too." Robin said, scrolling through the Cadmus files. "Let's find out why." He stopped when he came to a file listing the creatures. "They're called genomorphs. Their stats are… Woah."

"Dude!" Wally exclaimed, leaning over Robin's shoulder. "They've got everything: super strength, telepathy…."

"They're living weapons."

"They're engineering an army!" Wally yelped.

"But for what?" Robin asked, scrolling through the files again. "Project Kr." He said, stopping on said name. He attempted to hack in but: "The files triple encrypted. I can't get-"

"Don't move!"

The three heroes spun to face the door, the sight greeting their face a strange one. A man with a yellow helmet and blue body armor with small, monkey-like white creatures following him was running towards them. It was safe to assume he was a threat, seeing as they were breaking into a top-secret, illegal lab, and he seemed to be involved in it. Robin drew out his batarangs as Wally put on his red goggles and Aqualad drew his water-bearers.

The monkeys attacked them first, one knocking Robin to the ground as he threw a batarang at the man. The thing was ugly up close, but now that he thought about it, they were pretty ugly from far away too. They had really chunky forearms and small wastes, with Martian-like head, though they were completely grey aside from a few red stripes on their waste and arms, and their eyes, which were red also. The one on Robin hissed, tearing at his hair until managed to kick it off over his head. He somersaulted to his feet and shot a grappling hook towards the a rafter on the ceiling, flipping onto the support beam before leaping down and running towards the door the man had come from. Glancing behind him he saw Kid Flash and Aqualad fighting the monkey-creatures, the blue armored man watching with a suddenly confused expression.

"Robin?" The man asked, turning and staring at the Boy Wonder who'd begun hacking into the door. "Kid Flash, Aqualad."

"Hey, KF," Robin called. "He got your name right!"

"What are you doing here?" The man asked, acting even more confused now.

"Guardian!" Aqualad exclaimed, hurling a monkey-monster over his shoulder. Guardian… that name sounded familiar…."

"What are _you_ doing here?" Aqualad asked, dodging another monkey-monster. That was it! Guardian, used to be associated with the League.

"I'm…" Guardian began, seeing unsure of why he was there, but then a smaller white creature that was perched on his shoulder, similar to the ones that had been on the hippo-gorilla, turned its head, its horns glowing red, and Guardian's face went blank as he charged Aqualad, yelling for the monkey-monsters to take Robin's friends down hard. So not happening. Robin finished hacking door; it opened to reveal an elevator. Kid Flash ran up, Aqualad close behind, both being pursued by the monkey-monsters, and all three dashed into the elevator, Robin closing the door quickly behind him.

"Wait to be a team player,_ Rob_!" Kid Flash accused his younger friend.

"You know, I can open this elevator anytime and feed you to the monkey-monsters if you'd prefer." Robin quipped, putting his hands on his hips.

"Monkey-monsters, really?"

"Shut up."

"Calm down," Aqualad interrupted. "Both of you. Robin did well opening the elevator and providing a way for us to escape." Robin stuck his tongue out a KF behind the Atlantian's back.

"Yeah, escape to what?" KF asked as Robin started the elevator. "Those, quote quote, 'monkey-monsters' are probably tracking our every move right now!"

"Project Kr." Robin murmured, going through the locked file again.

"Come again?" Kid Flash asked, confused, then noticed the numbers on the elevator slowly getting bigger. "Dude, why are we going down? Out is up!"

"I'm not stupid." Robin shot back, looking up from his holographic computer. "Project Kr. It's down."

Wally's mouth formed an "O" and he stopped talking. Aqualad looked stressed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

"This is getting out of hand. Maybe we should contact the League."

"NO!" Kid Flash and Robin both shouted at the same time.

"We can handle this." Robin insisted. "Come on, imagine if we are the ones to unearth Cadmus' secret! The League would _have_ to induct us then."

"We've already unearthed Cadmus' secret. Why do we have to investigate this Project Kr?"

"It's obviously important, as it's the only file I've found so far triple-encrypted." Robin explained. "Who knows what it could be-"

The door opened before Robin could finish his sentence, revealing a room with the walls covered in red goop. Robin actually thought it looked kind of gross. The floor and ceiling were also covered in the same goopy substance and when Robin stepped on it, it made a dull squishy sound. Not waiting for the others, Robin took off, his cape fluttering behind him as he made a bee-line for a corridor which looked promising. Even though it looked essentially the same as the other one next to it. He was halfway there when the screams of the monkey-monsters sounded behind him. He changed gears and sprinted, Aqualad and Kid Flash catching up to him. He could hear Guardian's shouts of "get them" but they were drown out as the three skidded to a halt in front of a door. It was labeled Kr, causing Robin to smirk at the fact that he'd picked the right corridor. Aqualad dug his fingers into the cracks in the door, attempting to force it open.

Robin turned and saw a long, skinny, pale man-thing walking towards, Guardian and his monkey's following close behind. The man-thing, who had horns on his head, resembled a goat, and was wearing only a white t-shirt and pants, raised his hand and sent two barrels flying towards the teenagers. They were forced to leap out of the way to avoid getting hit. Kid Flash immediately bolted back to the door, only to run into a young scientist-looking woman who'd just walked out. She screamed threw her clipboard in the air as she went flying.

"Come on, guys!" The speedster shouted, speeding through the rapidly shutting door. Aqualad leaped through after him and Robin followed, nearly getting smashed in the door if it hadn't been for Kid Flash who'd grabbed his cape and pulled him through. The heavy metal door clanged shut, instantly drowning out the sounds of the Guardian, the monkey-monsters and Goat-man. Robin ran over to a computer and plugged in his USB from his gauntlet, disabling the doors. Unless there was another entrance, they were safe, but also trapped; the only way out now was through Guardian and his monkeys.

The three heroes immediately began analyzing the room, taking in the high-tech computers, rock walls, empty tubes and-

"Guys, you're gonna wanna see this."

Kid Flash stood at a control-panel looking computer in the center of the room, facing the largest tube they'd seen yet. The speedster pressed a button and lights sprang to life, illuminating the once dark cavern-like space and lighting up the tube in front of them. Three pairs of eyes widened at what lay before them. In the tube, his eyes shut and back resting against a sheet of metal was a boy who looked like an identical twin of Superman in his teens. Robin eyes flitted down to the large "Kr" on the front of the tube. It all made sense now.

"Project Kr." He said out loud, the others still in shock. "Kr is the atomic symbol for Krypton."

Wally sped up in front of the glass, peering at the boy in the tube. "Clone?" He asked, turning to look at them.

"Robin, hack." Aqualad ordered.

"Right." Robin plugged into the control-panel computer, hastily bypassing the little security there was, obviously they never expected anyone to be able to get in the room in the first place, and pulled up as much information as he could get his hands on.

"Weapon designation: Superboy," He read out loud. "Grown from DNA acquired from Superman. More like stolen." Robin scowled.

"Yeah, no way the big guy knows about this." Kid Flash blurted out.

"He's got a solar suit that allows him to absorb yellow sun radiation 24/7. And-" Robin's eyes widened. "He was grown in only sixteen weeks!"

"And yet he looks old enough to be sixteen _years _old." Aqualad whispered. "What are those things?" He suddenly asked, pointing to a spot just above the clones head where three white creatures with horns, identical to the ones that had been on Guardian's shoulder and the hippo-gorilla's backs, slept. If one could call it sleeping.

Robin brought up another file and read: "Genomorph gnomes. They've been force feeding him information."

"And who knows what else!" Kid Flash pointed. "They're making a weapon out of, well, Superman's son."

They all stared at the clone again, the weight of the situation hitting them full force. Aqualad looked uneasy, then a determined look crossed his face.

"Now we contact the League." He ordered, pushing the upside-down "U" on his waist, attempting to send a distress signal to his king. Robin tried to send a message to Batman from his gauntlet-computer but found that there was-

"No signal." Aqualad announced.

Then they looked at each other, then back at the clone, Robin wondering whether they were thinking the same thought he was.

"Free him?" Kid Flash asked.

Aqualad nodded and Robin immediately hacked into the control-panel computer, hitting the button that would release the clone from his genomorph induced sleep and open the tube. What happened next was not what Robin had been hoping for.

The sides of the tube lowered down until they disappeared in the floor, the top of the tube, with the genomorphs, which Robin now saw were in miniature tubes of their own raised slightly. The clone himself remained motionless, appearing to be still asleep, but then the horns of the creatures above him glowed red and his hands clenched and his eyes snapped open. Aqualad narrowed his eyes and Robin unconsciously felt his body stiffen. The clone eyes locked on the three heroes and Kid Flash raised a hand, an unsure smile on his face.

"Hey, uh, Superboy, I-"

Whatever the speedster was going to say next was cut off by a primal yell ripping from the clone's throat, his body tensing as he sprang at the three heroes, forcing them to all throw themselves to the side. Great, Robin thought, rolling to his feet and going for his batarangs, not only did they have to fight a genetically enhanced army of monkey-monsters and their master but now they had to fight a rabid clone of the Kryptonian himself. Supey launched himself at Aqualad, pinning the Atlantian to the ground and commencing in pummeling him with his fists. Robin leaped up, sprinting over and grabbing onto the clone's arm while Kid Flash did the same to his other. Robin soon found it was all he could do to keep a hold on the young Kryptonian, his feet consistently being pulled off the ground by the clone's struggles. Kid Flash was having similar troubles, though was faring a bit better, being able to keep himself firmly planted to the stone floor.

"I really hate to do this." Robin said through gritted teeth as he pulled out two smoke bombs and shoved them in the clone's face. "But you're not playing very nice."

Superboy staggered back, freeing Aqualad, but the respite didn't last long. Angry now, the clone let out a roar as Kid Flash, his goggles in place, shot towards him. The Kryptonian easily stepped out of the way of the charging speedster, grabbing onto his arm as he passed, and used the heroes own momentum to swing him around into a tube, shattering the glass as the boy hurtled through it. Kid Flash was out like a light. Robin threw three batarangs in quick succession, though they had absolutely no effect on the Superboy and only served to irritate him and make him angrier. He turned to charge Robin, but Aqualad stepped in the way, throwing a punch at the clone's jaw. He hit the boy's jaw, but it barely fazed him. He then grabbed the Atlantian by his shoulders and jumped up to the ceiling, ramming Aqualad into the unforgiving rock. They both dropped back to earth, one collapsing in a heap, the other with a wild look in his eye.

"Alright, my turn." Robin muttered, reaching for his Taser in his belt. Aqualad would be fine; Atlantians had thick skin, but if this thing wasn't stopped, it couldn't end well for any of them. Well, maybe for the clone, but Robin didn't really know how the scientists would feel about him out of cage, especially if they knew how wild he was.

Supey turned his attention now to the only conscious person, other than himself, in the room. Robin shot out his Taser, hitting the clone in the chest. Robin turned it on full power, knowing that would be the only way he could affect the Kryptonian. The clone looked down, confused, but otherwise unharmed. Robin cursed, then his eyes widened as the clone grabbed the Taser's prongs and yanked. Robin had a fraction of a second to apologize to Batman for his dumb mistake (really, why did he think that a _Taser_ would affect a clone of Superman?) before he felt his feet lift off from the air as he went flying towards the boy-hulk. Supey snatched the front of the Boy Wonder's tunic and thrust him to the floor, causing his bandaged arm to flare up in pain.

Robin saw a large foot pass in front of his line of vision and then felt an indescribably strong force slam into his chest. Robin cried out in pain, muffled by his gritted teeth, and wriggled feebly as he tried to escape the crushing weight of the Superboy's foot. The pressure increased and Robin let a another yell as he thought he heard something crack. He could barely breathe now, his head feeling light and black spots danced in front of his vision. Just as he was about to pass out, the weight lifted and he saw the legs of his Atlantian friend cross the floor as the hero threw the clone off of Robin. Robin felt a strong arm on his shoulder, pressing uncomfortably hard into the injured area, as Aqualad cautiously raised him off the floor. Robin's breath came in deep pants and his arm was pressed hard against his burning chest as he struggled not to pass out. Aqualad watched him concerned, holding him up. Robin felt his vision go fuzzy and then fade to all black as the pain from his injuries was too much for him.

* * *

><p><strong>AN** And that's that! Remember how i said the chapter wouldn't be as long as the first? Well this one was more than a 1000 words longer! I gotta stop doing this! Please review and tell me how i did! (especially since this was so long :) Review!

Alex out.


	3. Of DNA and Such

**A/N: **Yay! After today's episode about Robin I thought now would be a good time to post another chapter! Did anyone else think it was awesome? The Team all looked so weird with the masks and all (I won't say too much, in case you haven't watched it), but I think Robin looked cute in his. And Wally wasn't in it nearly enough, but his little chat with Robin was cute!

Anyways, thanks to **AsIfICare****d (**I loved your review soooo much! it was so great!**) **and **Anonymous **for reviewing! And to everyone who favorited/alerted! you guys rock! Everyone else, review! It's a really good idea! And now, the story!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Young Justice.

* * *

><p>When Robin woke up he found himself hanging from his wrists in a tube. The life of a superhero in a nutshell. He groaned as his eyes slowly opened behind his mask, wincing as pain shot across his chest where the Superman clone had stomped on him. He hated getting stomped on. It happened way too often in his opinion. Robin glanced around, moving his head only slightly, and found he was in a room similar to one where the clone had been grown. He knew without looking that Kid Flash and Aqualad were to his left; it looked like the super-clone had taken the Atlantian down after he'd passed out. He wanted to look up at the cuffs on his wrists, but his head felt heavy and his chest still burned in pain. His bandaged arm was throbbing painfully too, probably from the stress of holding up his body. Suddenly a voice echoed- in his head?<p>

"Wake up!" The voice sounded urgent. It was low, so Robin guessed it was probably a male. "You must wake up! Time is short, wake up!" At the last 'wake up' Robin turned to look and saw Kid Flash's eyes shoot open and Aqualad quickly assess their situation. Robin raised his head now too, and did a double take at what he saw.

Superboy stood in front of all three of them, glaring at them without so much as twitching. His vibrant blue eyes looked like they were trying to burn into the three boys in front of him, which, now that Robin thought about, they probably were. Heat vision and all. The heroes all stared at the clone, unsure what to do. Robin was still disoriented from the creepy voice that had entered, what he assumed, was all of their heads. Alien voices in his head weren't exactly something he welcomed with open arms; he had enough resident voices as it was. Kid Flash, apparently uncomfortable with the clone's gaze, (which, Robin had to ask, who wasn't?) suddenly yelled.

"Hey, stop staring! Stop it, you're creeping me out!" If Robin hadn't secretly been wishing for the clone to look away, (cause, come on, who knew when that heat vision might kick), he would have laughed at the speedster's distressed tone, but as it was, he only smiled to himself, deep down in the part of his mind that never felt fear. Or if it did, never let it get to it.

"Ugh, what do you want? Ah! Dude, didn't anyone ever teach you to that it's rude to stare?"

"Uh, KF," Robin said, an unpleasant thought coming to mind as the clone's gaze intensified. "Let's not tick of the guy that can fry us with a look." Suddenly this wasn't a laughing matter, no matter how far down in his brain the laughter resided.

Then Aqualad, always the cool-headed, negotiator type, spoke up, trying to reason with the glaring clone. "We only sought to help you."

"Yeah!" Kid Flash blurted, rather worked up. "We free you, you turn on us! Grateful much? Whatever Cadmus has been teaching you, they seem to have left out manners!"

"Kid, please," Aqualad said with hints of anger and begging. "I believe our new _friend_ was not entirely in control of his actions."

"Neither am I when I'm hyped up on sugar, but everyone still yells at me!" Robin wasn't listening anymore. He fiddled with his glove, smirking when he managed to free his lock pick from his hidden compartment. Just one of the benefits of wearing gloves that made your arms look twice as big as they really were.

"What if I-" Robin's head shot up at the new voice. "What if I wasn't?"

"He can talk?" Everyone's favorite ketchup and mustard colored speedster, who lacked all forms of finesse, blurted out.

"Yes, _he_ can." The clone growled, surprising the three boys even more. When the Kryptonian had been attacking them he'd seemed like a wild monster; seeing him now, acting civil, was surprising to say the least.

"It's not like I said 'it'," KF defended when both Aqualad and the Boy Wonder glared at him.

"The genomes taught you, telepathically." Aqualad stated, not really asking.

"They taught me much." The clone said softly. "How to read, and write. The names of things."

"But have you ever actually seen them?" Robin asked, the disconcerting thought crossing his mind. "Have you ever actually seen the sun? Or the sky?"

The look on the clones face was answer enough. "Images are, implanted in my brain."

"Do you know who you are?" Aqualad asked, compassion on his face. "_What_ you are?"

"I am the Superboy." Superboy said, standing taller. "Cloned from the DNA of the Superman. I'm designed to replace him should he fall. Destroy him should he turn from the light."

The three boy's eyes widened. "To be like Superman, is, a worthy aspiration," Aqualad began.

"But I think you're taking it a little too far." Kid Flash, winner of the Understatement of the Century award.

"You deserve a life of your own, like Superman." Aqualad continued, ignoring the speedster. "Beyond your pod, beyond the solar suit, beyond Cadmus." And the prize to the most over-dramatic inspirational speech goes to the Atlantian in the tube.

"I live because of Cadmus!" The clone burst out. "It is my home."

"Your home is a test-tube in a giant, illegal lab underground." Robin told him pointedly. Now was not the time for sugar-coating things. "If you free us, we could show you the sun."

"Pretty sure it's after midnight," Kid Flash interjected. "But we could show you the moon! It's cooler anyway."

"And we could introduce you to Superman." Robin added, thinking that the clone would like to see who he'd been cloned from. He was right. At the mention of the older Kryptonian, Superboy's face lit up. But then, of course, the Monkey-Master chose that moment to enter the room, accompanied by two very stereotypical looking scientists.

"No they can't." One of the scientists announced, perhaps trying to go for dramatic flair. He failed. "They'll be otherwise detained. Start the cloning process." Okay, that was new.

"Pass!" Robin yelled. "Batcave's crowded enough."

The scientist ignored him and turned, suddenly angry, to Guardian. "Get the weapon back in its pod!" This scientist was touchy.

"Hey!" Kid Flash complained. "How come he gets to call Supey an 'it'?"

The scientist and the gold-masked man walked over and stood next to the clone. Robin got a good look at the scientist, and frankly, he wasn't whelmed. Yep, good use of that word, he thought. The man was rather lanky, with graying reddish-brown hair. He wore rectangle glasses, a step up from the traditional nerdy scientist style, and had a permanent frown on his face, his eyebrows creased together on his forehead. He wore a white lab coat and had a genomorph gnome on his shoulder. Guardian put a hand on Superboy's shoulder.

"Help us." Aqualad pleaded. Superboy looked at them, confusion and indecision written on his face.

"Don't tell me you're going to start thinking _now_." The scientist whined. Robin officially didn't like him. The genome on the scientist's shoulder leaped onto the clones, its horns glowing red. Robin knew from experience that this couldn't be good. Superboy's eyes took on a blank look and he stared straight ahead as the scientist started to yell at him.

"You're not a real boy." He said, sounding for all the world like he was talking to Pinocchio. Robin didn't like Pinocchio. "You're a weapon." Very subtle. Sarcasm. "You belong to me!" Defensive and selfish. "Well, to Cadmus. But same thing." Thinks everything is his. This guy had nothing going for him. No wonder he was stuck working in an illegal underground lab with mutated monkeys and goat-men. He was probably single too.

Superboy seemed unaffected by the verbal beating he'd just received and turned and walked out of the room, the genomorph gnome still sitting on his shoulder. Those things seemed to induce intense, bipolar changes in attitude. Aw, they took after their daddy. A heavy metal door, similar to the one that had been guarding the Kryptonian clone's room, clanged shut behind Supey.

Then creepy scientist-man with anger management issues nodded to the other scientist in the room, a woman who was wearing a similar white coat (and whom Robin felt bad for, having to work with Mr. Maniac and all) and she went over to a control-panel computer and typed out some code. Next thing Robin knew, two long arms came out of the bottom of his tube, snaking up until they were level with his chest. Robin now saw that the ends split into four separate _fingers_ on each arm, the fingers ending in suspiciously Taser-like objects. The hand-things reached forward and Robin knew this was going to be painful.

The Taser-fingers connected with his chest and Robin couldn't hold back his shouts of pain. To his left he heard his friends screaming as well; they were getting the same treatment. It lasted longer than he'd thought it would, seemingly going on forever, the Taser-fingers sending shocks through his body while all he could do was hang by his wrists and wait until it ended, groaning and yelling through gritted teeth. He could barely focus through the pain; his eyes were shut tight behind his domino mask as tears threatened to leak out. He could hear the scientist talking to someone or something, probably about what to do with them after the cloning process was complete.

Finally, after what could have been seconds or minutes for all Robin's internal clock could tell, the Taser-like fingers retreated from his chest, leaving him gasping for breath. From the deep gasps coming from his left, he assumed that the others were finished too. The acrobat slowly opened his masked eyes. The two scientists were now both gathered around the control-panel computer, arguing over something. Straining his ears, Robin tried to make out the words.

"-but why not one of the bigger ones?" The woman asked, forcefully, albeit cautiously. "They're obviously older, stronger, their bodies will more likely able to handle the process. The smallest one will be far more likely to perish. And besides, they have superpowers!"

"Exactly." Mr. Maniac exclaimed. "The yellow one, with the super-speed, we have no idea how much the process changed his DNA! This procedure is designed for strictly organic human DNA. The other is not even human, so we have to use the small one, Robin."

The woman looked like she was about to say something, but Mr. Maniac cut her off. "I did not hire you to argue with me. Now start the transplant. I set up his tube for it already, just type in the sequence. Then we'll take him into the other room to start the activation process."

Robin's mind was having a hard time processing all they'd said. Something about DNA, strictly organic _human _DNA. Something about using him, because he was the only with the right type of DNA. Something about him being the smallest- that was not something that needed to be pointed out. Just as this was all coming together, Robin saw new arms coming up from the floor of his tube, five fingers this time instead of four with the ends tipped with what looked like a sort of needle-tipped Taser. The boy had only a moment to think, _crap, this is going to hurt even more, _before the needles shot forward and imbedded themselves in his chest. For a moment nothing happened, but then the needles started moving, almost digging around in his chest, before a whirring sound was heard and Robin yelled in pain as electricity traveled into his body via the needles.

The shocks lasted longer this time, Robin moaning the whole time, trying desperately not to scream. He could hear Aqualad in the back of his mind yelling at the scientists, Kid Flash screaming threats at super-speed, the two heroes worried for their young friend getting tortured next to them. The pain lasted so long that Robin began to think there was never a time without it, that it had always been there, that it was his life. The world seemed to fade and all that existed was the pain: the needles, shocks, the screaming of his raw throat. It was all there was and all there would ever be. And yet he wouldn't – _couldn't_ – black out. No matter much he wanted to, the darkness never came.

After years passed, or maybe it was only minutes – no, it felt like centuries – Robin felt himself coming to. The pain had ended; the needles were still imbedded in his chest, but were no longer shocking him. He slowly raised his head, and saw the Superboy clone standing in front of them, the scientists, the goat-man, who must have entered sometime during the shocks when Robin was out of it, and Guardian all passed out on the floor.

"Are you here to help, or fry us?" Kid Flash asked, sending a worried glance towards his best friend. Robin's chest burned, whether from the shocks or from Supey's foot stomping on it, he wasn't sure. Said clone was now glaring at Kid Flash, seemingly testing his heat vision.

"Huh," the clone mused. "Seeing as I don't have heat vision, I guess helping is my only option."

Robin looked up at the cuffs around his wrists. He still had his lock pick in his hand and he was sure he could quickly get the cuffs off with it, but the needles were still imbedded in his chest and freeing his wrists would mean he would immediately drop to the floor, causing the needles to tear his chest. Not something he wanted.

The clone went over to Aqualad, but the Atlantian stopped him from tearing open his tube. "Get Robin first." Supey nodded and went over to Robin's tube. He looked it up and down before ripping off the front of the glass. He stared at the Boy Wonder's face, which was still scrunched in pain, and then his gaze traveled to the needles imbedded in the boy's chest. He looked up and gave the hero a questioning look and Robin nodded. The clone reached out and grasped the arms before yanking them out. The pain was little and lasted for only a second before the needles were free. Robin sighed in relief before struggling to unlock his cuffs with his lock pick. He finally managed it and dropped to the ground, rubbing his wrists and chest.

"Finally! Batman would have my head for taking so long."

"Seriously? That's what you're worried about." Kid Flash asked amazed. "The whole League will have our heads after tonight."

Robin ignored him, walking over to the control-panel computer and pushing the button that caused the arms to retreat and the fronts of his friend's tubes to open. His still chest hurt whenever he moved and he felt light headed from the shocks, but still said to Superboy:

"You free Aqualad, I'll get Kid Mouth."

"Don't give me orders." The clone growled, but still went over to the Atlantian and wrenched his cuffs open. Robin climbed up onto the top of Kid Flash's tube, hissing as pain shot through his chest, and quickly opened the speedster's cuffs. The four teens dropped to the floor and bolted for the door, Mr. Maniac coming to as they passed.

"You'll never escape! Never!" He shouted. Cliché much?

Robin sighed, pulling out three bat-bombs and throwing them at three clear spheres filled with what Robin assumed was their DNA.

"That guy is not whelmed." He muttered as Mr. Maniac went on and on. "Not whelmed at all."

"Seriously dude." Kid Flash said. "What is it with you and this whelmed thing?"

The three heroes and Kryptonian took off running through the halls of Cadmus, Robin pulling up a map on his gauntlet computer as he ran. His chest was killing him, but he ignored it, knowing they had to get out- and fast.

"We are still forty-two levels below ground." Aqualad. "But if we can make the elevator-"

He stopped as they neared the elevator, four pairs of eyes widening at what they saw. Giant hippo-gorillas were blocking the path to the elevator, an army of mutant-monkeys running ahead of them. The teens turned, but the path behind them was soon filled with more mutant-monkeys, most coming from red egg-like things in the walls.

"This is not good." Kid Flash stated.

"Thank you Captain Obvious." Robin ground out. No more was said as the four were forced to fling themselves out of the way as a giant hippo-gorilla fist descended on the spot they had been only a moment before. Robin immediately jumped up, springing up onto a mutant hippo-gorilla and climbing over its back. He bit back a cry at the pain it caused his chest, but kept moving. He leaped down, landing heavily on the ground at Kid Flash and Aqualad's feet. When his feet hit, he felt a scream rise in his throat, but bit it back, it coming out instead a muffled groan. He would have fallen had his friends not grabbed his arms and held him up.

"Robin," the Atlantian asked, his laced with worry. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," He managed to gasp out. "I'm fine."

"You're not fine!" Kid Flash yelled angrily. "You were just tortured – twice! And I don't give a crap about DNA extraction. If that wasn't torture, then I'm a llama."

"Alright, worst come back ever." Robin smirked. "I'm fine guys, just a little sore."

"Very well." Aqualad agreed, albeit cautiously. "But why did they shock you twice? And why with needles?"

Before anyone could respond, the floor shook as Superboy flung one hippo-gorilla at another. That clone was strong.

"Superboy!" Aqualad called. "Our goal is escape, not to bring the whole place down on top of us." Good call, Robin thought.

"You want escape?" The clone growled, then crossed over to the elevator and yanked it open. Robin gave the shaft one look before firing his grappling hook upwards and riding up, his chest hurting at the stretch. He looked down and saw Superboy grabbing Aqualad and leaping into the air. He got at least twenty stories up before he started falling. Robin's eyes widened and he shot out a grappling hook which Aqualad quickly latched on to.

"I can't fly," Superboy murmured. "Superman can fly, why can't I fly?"

"You _can_ clear tall buildings in a single leap. Still cool." Wally pointed out, latching onto Superboy and pulling him onto the ledge where he and Robin stood.

"Thanks." The clone murmured, looking positively crestfallen. No one could console him, however, because right at that moment the elevator car came into view, plummeting towards them.

"This will have to be our exit." Robin announced. Superboy shouldered open the door and the four ran out, just as the car came hurtling by. More monkey-monsters waited for them down the hall, so they turned left and sprinted down a hallway, having absolutely no idea where they were going. Or so Robin thought until Superboy suddenly yelled:

"Left." Then, "Right." Kid Flash and the clone took off, soon outdistancing the other two. Robin's chest ached as he ran and all he wanted to do was stop and curl up in a little hole and wait for the pain to end. Aqualad, perhaps noticing his discomfort, had slowed his pace and now ran only slightly ahead of him. The rounded a corner and saw Kid Flash and Superboy standing at a dead end, Superboy apologizing-

"Don't apologize!" Robin exclaimed, seeing the vent. "This is perfect!."

Five minutes later found the four teens crawling through the vent systems, Robin's gauntlet computer displaying a map and the display of the buildings motion sensors. Those would have to be taken out. Or altered slightly….

"Urg! I hate how all your plans always end with us crawling through vents!" Kid Flash complained. "Do you have some sorta natural affinity towards small spaces or something, shorty?"

"Shut KF." Robin hissed. "I just saved your butt."

They reached an exit near some stairs, a triumphant grin on Robin's face as he announced: "I hacked the motion sensors!"

"Sweet!" Kid Flash exclaimed. Can we all say 'intense mood changes' together? "Now I finally got room to move!" And with that, he put his goggles on and took off up the stairs at super-speed. The other three followed, Superboy breaking down the steps behind them and cutting off the mutant-monkey monsters that were following them. When they reached the top they found Kid Flash sitting on the ground in front of a closed door, rubbing his head. Smooth, KF, smooth.

"We're cut off!" Aqualad announced needlessly.

"Yeah, my head hadn't noticed."

Superboy and Aqualad tried to muscle the door open, but to no avail. Robin attempted to hack into it to open it but –

"Can't hack this fast enough." Instead he opened a small door in the wall. "In here!" He called, slipping in. They ran through and came face to face with what looked like all the mutant monkey-hippo-gorilla monster things Cadmus had. This was not going to be a fair fight. Guardian stood in front of the army, a genomorph gnome on his shoulder, identical to the ones on the other mutant's shoulders. As more genormorphs closed in behind them, Robin drew two batarangs as the others got into a battle stance. Before they could move, however, Robin felt a strange presence in his mind and next thing he knew he was slowly collapsing to the ground as his body went limp. He saw the others do the same. This was so not a fair fight.

Robin lay on the ground, unable to move or speak, the presence still lingering in his mind. If he focused, he could almost make out words, as if the presence was _talking._ It was speaking to Superboy, though what it was saying, Robin could barely make out. He focused as hard as he could; listening with his mind, if that was even possible.

"-make up his own mind," Robin heard a strangely accented voice say.

"It was you!" This voice sounded like Superboy.

"Yes brother. I set the fire that guided your new friends to you." Though Robin couldn't see anything, as his eyes closed when he'd fallen, the boy had a strange feeling that this voice belonged to the goat-man. So this was all_ his_ fault. "I woke them when they were in danger. And guided you." So he was a_ good _bad guy? As if Robin's head didn't already hurt enough.

"But why?" Superboy mind-asked. Good question, Supey.

"Because you are our hope. The genomorph hero. You will blaze a way to freedom for all our brothers." Great, Robin couldn't help thinking, now there were going to be these mutant-monkeys running wild.

And then Robin could move again. He opened his eyes and saw Aqualad getting to his feet slowly, holding his head, and Kid Flash doing the same. Guardian, who Robin now saw stood behind the goat-man, was looking confused and muttering something like, "What? Where am I?" as the genomorph on his shoulder jumped off, its horns no longer glowing red. Robin tried to get up, but after lying on the ground for so long the adrenaline had left him and his chest burned more than ever now. He groaned as he tried to sit up, but fell back onto his side. Kid Flash worriedly scooted over to him, both heroes still watching the clone.

"Rob, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," The Boy Wonder ground out, then, when Kid Flash raised his eyebrows: "Superboy kinda stomped on my chest during the fight. And being shocked by needles doesn't help a guy either."

Kid Flash looked worried, but his attention turned back to the scene at hand as Superboy got to his feet, staring at the goat-man as the voice echoed in his head: "What is your choice brother." The clone looked uneasy at first, glancing first at the three heroes behind him, then at the all the genomorphs assembled before him, before his face set. His eyes narrowed as he said:

"I choose freedom."

Aqualad stood, but Kid Flash remained sitting at Robin's side. The Boy Wonder struggled to sit up, gritting his teeth at the pain; whatever they'd done to him sure left a lasting impression. Of course, getting crushed by a Kryptonian's foot was no walk in the park either. Aqualad, seeing Robin's distress, sent him a worried look, but returned his gaze quickly to where Guardian was now ordering them to go, telling them he'd deal with some guy named 'Desmond'. Before they could move, though, Mr. Maniac in the flesh appeared, parting genomorphs like the Red Sea. He looked frazzled and ready to blow a gasket.

"I think not." He growled, referring to Guardian's claim to 'deal with him'. What he did next surprised them all. He held up a test tube filled with blue liquid saying:

"Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus once and for all." Then he swallowed the contents of the test tube in one gulp. When mad scientists swallowed creepy concoctions, the end result is never good.

Guardian moved in front of the teens as Mr. Maniac, or Desmond as Guardian had called him, dropped to the ground, his step-up-from- nerd glasses falling off. He adopted a pose that was usually attributed to painful genetic change and began moaning and yelling in pain. What happened next caused Robin and Kid Flash's eyes to widen in shock. Desmond's white lab coat suddenly ripped apart, revealing his hunched back that was – orange? The scientist's muscles began growing as his clothes were torn off him. When he raised his face they only saw the face of Desmond briefly before his eyes transformed into identical red spheres and his face expanded and morphed into that of a monster, stretching so much the orange skin on it burst off, and hung off his face in shreds. It was gross to say the least. The man-beast then let out a guttural roar and stood up fully, the orange skin on his body bursting and leaving behind greyish colored armor-looking skin.

Superboy narrowed his eyes and went into a defensive stance with Guardian still in front. Desmond, now a man-monster, though how much man there was, was debatable, breathed heavily, sounding like Darth Vader with a cold. He was huge now, and looked like he could take down even Superman in a battle. Robin struggled to stand, Kid Flash supporting as he slowly got to his feet. His chest hurt when he stood, but if he kept slightly bent over it wasn't as bad. He leaned on his best friend's arm, feeling rather weak and useless. But there wasn't time to worry about that.

Desmond turned Darth Vader monster had already disposed of Guardian, who'd foolishly charged him head on, and was working on Superboy. The clone landed hit after hit on the monster's face, but it barely fazed him. He grabbed the clone and shot towards the ceiling, slamming him into it. Robin couldn't help but think how Superboy had done the same to Aqualad only hours previously. This time, however, the two battling Cadmus-creations broke through the cement and shot onto the roof. The three heroes ran over and stood under the hole, Robin ignoring Kid Flash's offered help, and looked up into the night sky.

"Okay, that's one way to bust through the ceiling." Robin said, pulling out his grappler. He shot it up towards the circular hole above him, and waited for Kid Flash to grab his waist. This was going to hurt.

"I'll do it." The speedster said, taking the end of the rope from Robin. "You sure you're up to doing this? You didn't look too hot back there on the ground."

"I told you, I'm fine."

"Robin, if you are hurt, you should tell us." Aqualad prompted.

"I'm fine, just a little sore, that's all."

They looked doubtful, but Robin grabbed onto Kid Flash and set his grappler to pull them up through the hole. As they ascended Kid Flash asked:

"Do you think Lab Coat planned this?"

"I doubt he is planning anything anymore." Aqualad answered, before leaping up through the hole after them.

When they arrived on the roof they were greeted with the sight of Superboy and Mr. Scientist-gone-monster locked in combat. The once-man picked up the clone and chucked him at Aqualad and they both went skidding across the roof. Kid Flash and Robin ran over to help them; all four heroes got into a battle stance before charging the monster. Kid Flash ran ahead, running under the monsters legs and tripping him. When he looked up he got a face-full of Atlantian and Kryptonian fist. He stumbled backwards, tripping over the speedster who got up, brushing his hands off and saying:

"I learned that in kindergarten."

Robin rolled his eyes, then leaped into action, vaulting over the other's heads, his chest screaming in pain, and flinging two batarangs at the monsters face. Mr. Maniac-Desmond-monster ignored them, the weapons simply bouncing harmlessly off his skin. Robin growled to himself in annoyance; why didn't his batarangs work on _anything_ in this whole freaking underground lab?

The monster got up and commenced in beating Superboy into a pillar, cracking it with the force he delivered to the clone's head. Robin winced sympathetically. That had to hurt. Robin leaped up and pulled out his Taser, before remembering that it hadn't worked on Superboy before, so it likely wouldn't work on this freak. Thankfully Aqualad shot out a water-rope from his water-bearers, yanking said freak off the clone. The freak, however, was smarter than he looked (he was a scientist after all) as he grabbed Aqualad's water-rope and pulled him forward, smashing him into the ground. Kid Flash charged at the monster, probably trying to stop if from pummeling the Atlantian to death, but the Desmond-gone-wrong grabbed the speedster and hurled him into a pillar supporting the roof of concrete above their heads.

"Of course!" Robin exclaimed to himself, pulling up a holographic image of the roof they were on. It wasn't really a roof at all; more like an entrance hall – a really big entrance hall. The roof of the entrance hall, which was made of concrete, was supported by six giant concrete pillars. Robin looked up to see the monster-man slam Aqualad into one of the pillars, dust erupting from where it connected to the roof and rubble raining from the ceiling. Robin smiled, sure his plan would work.

"KF, get over here!" He called.

The speedster ran over, coming up behind the Boy Wonder and peering over his shoulder at the holographic display on the boy's wrist. Robin quickly explained his plan as Superboy went sailing into another pillar, breaking it apart and eliciting a damage alert on Robin's hologram. Yep, this would work.

"Got it?" He asked the speedster. He received a short "yep" before his friend shot off, goggles over his eyes. Robin then called Aqualad and Superboy over as Kid Flash distracted the monster. He pointed to his holographic display and pointed out the pillars he needed them to take out. The nodded in compliance and Robin looked over to see Kid Flash holding a piece of Desmond-gone-wrong's skin in his hand, gross, and yelling something like "Got your nose".

The clone and Atlantian quickly took out their designated pillars and Robin pulled out two batarangs, running over to the place he'd plotted out on the floor, his pain forgotten as adrenaline coursed through his veins. Kid Flash, with his own, well, Wally-ish tactics, had managed to get the monster to smash through another pillar. Good, they were almost there. Robin bent down and drew a white "X" on the floor and threw two batarangs at the remaining pillars. He then ran out of the way as Aqualad shot out a jet of water from his water-bearers which Kid Flash slid across, luring the monster with him. Superboy then landed a solid punch on the top of the thing's head, knocking to the ground as Aqualad sent electricity through the water, electrocuting the monster.

"Move!" Robin yelled, and the four heroes took off running as the Robin's batarangs started blinking, getting faster and faster until they exploded, sending the whole roof crashing down onto what was once Mr. Maniac, the nasty scientist with people issues. The explosion sent off a chain of smaller ones, bringing down the whole building. Robin felt Aqualad's body cover his as a large piece of concreted came crashing towards them. He closed his, feeling the explosion shake his body, but feeling no pain as the Atlantian's body protected him.

When finally it stopped they lay still for a few moments, waiting to make sure there were no reverberating explosions. Robin felt Aqualad's breath on his neck and glancing to his left he saw Superboy protecting Kid Flash. They'd all made it. Once they were sure it was over, Superboy pushed the giant concrete slab off of them and the four climbed out, Kid Flash and Robin exchanging high-fives which ended with them both doubled over in pain.

"We did it." Aqualad exclaimed.

"Was there ever any doubt?" Robin joked, breathless.

Then they all looked up, Superboy's eyes widening as he saw the moon for the first time and – Robin gulped, The League. He saw his mentor riding on a platform one of the Green Lantern's had made.

"Hey look!" Kid Flash exclaimed. "The moon _and_ Superman. Boy, do we keep our promises or what!"

This probably wasn't going to end well.

**PAGEBREAK**

"They got away." The woman muttered, her hands shaking on her clipboard. The undergrounds of Cadmus remained unchanged by the explosion on the ground level, though the power had gone out, causing the figure in front of her to be covered in shadows.

"All of them?" The voice was rather high for a male, though menacing.

"Yes sir. All of them. And they captured Desmond."

"No matter about Desmond."

The woman smiled nervously; maybe this wasn't going to be as bad as she thought.

"What of the boy?"

"He-he got away too."

"Did you start the process?"

"Only the DNA trans-transfer." She answered shakily.

"So it's not active?"

"N-no sir."

"Hmm, very well. He must be brought back. The process must be completed. That DNA is too valuable to lose." The voice paused, the owner thinking. "The boy is well guarded, by the Batman no less, but I will bring him back. Your failure will be righted, though not by you. This isn't over. The boy will be far more than 'Wonderful' by the time I'm through with him."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Ooo! Creepy ending right? Heeheehee, what did they do to Robin? You'll just have to see! Now, any requests as to any characters you'd like to see in this? Interesting ideas are always welcome, and I might use them if they work with my storyline! Oh, and once again my chapter is waaaay too long. *sigh*, you're probably coming to expect this now, aren't you?

Well, thanks for reading and stay tuned! The story is finally past the episode-rewrite thing, so now it will be new and exciting! But of course this all was necessary, wasn't it? Now we have a plot! Oh, and any specific episodes you'd like me to add to this story? i already have a couple i think i'll do (I'm gonna try to stay away from doing too many, though). Now, review and tell me what you think!

Alex out.


	4. Assassin Girl

**A/N: **Woohoo! New chapter! This is the shortest chapter so far, and i'm not super happy with how it turned out, but I know it's necessary, so I suffered through it. I think you will all like it, though. There's some action and Artemis, so that's always good.

I'd like to give a shout out to **Fae Faythe **as her stories, **Who is She **and **Return, **inspired me to write this. You should totally go read her stories; they are awesome!

Yeah, okay, anyway, thanks to all the reviewers, favoriters, alerters, etc. I have over ten reviews! Whoop! most ever! I actually have 17! Aaaaah, I'm so happy! I will now respond to reviews. **anon: **I'm glad you like the length of the chapters! **Dextra2: **glad you like it! **Anonymous: **You get your wish! Artemis! And don't worry, there are no Robin clones. :) **c0pypa5ted3lete**: Glad you like the length also! And I'm exploding inside at how great your review was! It was awesome! I feel so bubbly! And i'm honored you like my retelling of the episode. I was kinda worried i changed it too much. And yes, i am planning on putting Performance (when i got your review, i thought of the perfect spot), though not for a little while. I too thought there wasn't much back story. **FudoTwin17: **You should be scared! *evil grin*. JK, but thanks so much for the review! Thanks everyone for the reviews! I love it! Here's the next chapter:

Disclaimer: Honestly, are these actually required? Well, I don't own Young Justice.

* * *

><p>Robin slowly lowered himself, his arms shaking with exertion, until they were horizontal with the ground. His grip on the rings slipped slightly, nearly sending him plummeting down. He gritted his teeth and held longer, determined not drop for fifteen seconds. He counted slowly, his breath beginning to hitch and his arms going numb with the pain. He reached seven, barely holding on, sweat cascaded down his face and the chalk on his hands had been washed away by sweat, his grip on the rings faltering. Only eight more seconds he thought. Seven, six, five – and then he fell.<p>

Robin rolled on impact, though it still sent shooting pain up his damaged chest. The stomp he'd received from Superboy had fractured one of his ribs and bruised multiple others; and while it had been nearly three days since the episode in Cadmus and they had healed somewhat, they were still exceedingly sore. Thankfully no internal damage had been done, but when Aqualad and Kid Flash had learned what happened they'd been angry at him for not telling them sooner. Batman had been angry too. Angry that he hadn't told anyone, for, he'd said, Robin could've damaged them even more by running around; and angry because he'd been hurt. Of course, the two other sidekicks had told the Bat about the DNA extraction and whatever else they'd to Robin, and Batman had given his protégé numerous scans and tests to try to locate what had happened, but nothing had turned up. He'd finally agreed that the process had been stopped short and whatever they'd been trying to do hadn't been able to happen

Robin picked himself up off the floor, his hand going to rest on his injured ribs, taking deep breaths and trying to stop his arm muscles from shaking so hard his arms fell off. He slowly made his way to a bench, sitting down and taking a long drink from a water bottle. Batman had forbidden him from doing any strenuous activity the first two days after he'd returned, but he'd said nothing that morning so Robin took it as permission to train, albeit gently. He'd given up sparring after twisting too hard to the side and upsetting his injuries, so he'd gone instead to the rings, which were fine as long as he didn't twist too much. Though holds hurt too. Maybe training so soon wasn't a good idea, but he had nothing else to do as Batman refused to take him on patrol and was still making up his mind whether or not he'd allow the sidekick's to start a team.

When the Justice League had arrived at Cadmus, they'd not been too happy, especially Superman, learning he had a clone. Superboy had been so excited, though he didn't show, Robin could just tell, to meet the Man of Steel, but Superman had simply brushed him off with something akin to a glare. The clone had dejectedly gone back to stand by the other sidekicks, all of whom weren't too happy with the treatment he'd received. Then the League had gone on to say that they wouldn't be doing this again, blah blah blah, and then Aqualad had retorted that they would and they'd all stood dramatically while Superboy said something like, "Get on board, or get out of the way". Batman had then said he'd think about allowing them to start a team and would give the answer in three days. Then Mr. Maniac-gone-hulk had been arrested and Cadmus had been taken over by Guardian. In short, it had been a tense ride back to Gotham for a certain young hero.

Now Robin sat in the mansion's gym waiting on Batman's decision. Superboy had gone to live with Wally until more permanent arrangements could be made and the speedster had called after the first night saying he'd found the clone asleep in his closet, standing up. Robin hadn't stopped laughing for nearly ten minutes, his ribs screaming in pain the whole time. Both boys fervently hoped that Batman would agree to the team, though they'd also both new they'd at least try to start their own with or without the older hero's permission.

Robin stood, wiping sweat from his face with a towel, hand still resting on his side, and made his way to the changing rooms, deciding he was done training. He put on a pair of black jeans and a green hoodie, wincing as it slid over his bandaged chest, and quickly ran out into the kitchen, the smell of Alfred's cooking reaching his nose. When he reached the room he was greeted by an unexpected, yet welcome sight.

"Bruce!" He exclaimed, seeing the man sitting at the table drinking coffee and looking more energetic than usual when he came home from work. "I thought you weren't supposed to be home for another two hours?"

"Change of plans." The man said, smiling slightly over his cup.

"Does this mean-?" Dick asked, running over and leaning over the back of a chair across from his guardian.

"I told you he'd make up his mind, Master Richard." Alfred smiled, setting down a tray of some sort of gourmet food that looked like slime and really didn't appeal to Dick.

Dick's face lit up at this, still expectantly scanning Bruce's face. The man's face didn't change, the ghost of the smile still there as he took one of the slime-ball-looking-things from the tray and said:

"I'll meet you in the Cave in ten minutes. We'll be using the zeta-beams, so you might want to take some aspirin. No need to change, no one will be in uniform except the League. Though you'll have to wear these." He added, tossing something to his ward.

Dick caught it, finding it to be a pair of highly reflective sunglasses. He raised his eyebrow at Bruce, wondering what the sunglasses were for.

"You will not be revealing your identity to the Team. You will have to wear these or your mask at all times when you're around them."

Dick knew what that meant, besides the obvious. Robin was on now part of a team.

**PAGEBREAK**

Robin coughed slightly into his gloved arm, flying around the corner of the alley as he pushed his legs to the limit. His injured ribs weren't happy with the harsh treatment they were receiving and were letting him know by whining in pain. The Boy Wonder ignored them, glancing down to check the holographic display he'd brought up on his gauntlet computer. The blinking green dot was now almost a hundred yards ahead of him, causing Robin to growl in frustration at his inability to keep up with the criminal. True, he was taller than him, but was smaller than most criminal's he'd met in Gotham and Robin had speed to rival a full grown man. In top condition, his body reminded him. He just hoped Batman had caught his target.

After the initiation of the new Young Justice team and the introduction of their fifth member, the Dynamic Duo had gotten a call from the Gotham Commissioner that there had been a break-in at the Gotham Bank by two assassin's, one well known by many as Sportsmaster, the other, unidentifiable. Once Batman and Robin had found the criminals, exiting the bank, the fight had been short lived. The criminals had immediately split up, each taking half of the stolen money and shoving it into a bag on their back and commenced in sprinting off down separate side-alleys. Batman had gone after Sportsmaster, leaving Robin to follow the other.

Robin had been actually rather loath to leave his new team, which consisted of Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy and the newest addition, the niece of Martian Manhunter, Miss Martian, but knew that saving the world, or at least the people of Gotham's money, was more important than hanging out with his friends. So he'd left, but they'd agreed to get together as much as possible; their new base, Mount Justice, the old Justice League headquarters, would be their meeting spot.

Robin had been pleasantly surprised when Batman had announce to them that they'd get the mountain as their headquarters, though rather annoyed at the fact that there'd always be, as the Dark Knight had put it, a 'den mother' supervising them. Batman had also told them they were a covert ops team, which wasn't too bad, at least for Robin as he had the stealth thing down pat, and that he would give them missions accordingly. Yep, Batman was in charge of their missions, something Robin wasn't sure was a good thing or not. On one hand, he knew Batman trusted him and hence would send them on reasonably advanced mission, but on the other hand, he was as paranoid as all get out and would probably act with unrivaled caution.

Robin glanced down at his wrist computer, muttering "finally" when he saw that the criminal was heading towards a dead end. Robin put on a burst of speed, determined not to let his target get away from him. He rounded a final corner, his breath coming in short gasps from the pain breathing caused his side, and came face-to-face with an arrow. The boy's instincts kicked in and he dropped to the ground, narrowly avoiding an arrow through the brain. So, she was an archer. He quickly rolled to his feet, two batarangs already drawn when an undeniably feminine voice said:

"That was close. I thought I'd nailed you for sure."

"You're a girl!" Robin nearly shouted. Wow, smooth, Grayson, real smooth.

"How observative." The girl replied, sarcastically.

Looking at her, Robin wondered how he'd mistaken her for a boy in the first place. She had long, like, really long, blonde hair which was tied back in a ponytail and wore a ski-mask-like hat over her head and face, leaving her dark eyes, mouth and chin visible. She wore a tight, long-sleeved black shirt which exposed her midriff (something Robin noticed quickly) and black pants with tall, dark boots coming up nearly to her knees. She was insanely fit, her abdominal muscles showing clearly beneath her shirt, and her arms looked buff. She looked young, or at least what Robin could see of her, only appearing to be a year or two older than him. Probably two, he decided, as she was also at least three or four inches taller than him. She had her bow trained on him, another arrow already nocked and looked annoyed.

"Um, what are you doing?" The girl asked, raising an eyebrow at the boy in front of her.

Robin looked up, startled, then blushed as he realized he'd been staring at her. He really spent too much time around Wally.

"So, you're the Boy Wonder?" The girl mused, circling around him with her bow. She appeared to be sizing him up, much like he'd done only moments before. "You're a lot smaller in person. What, are you like eleven?"

"Thirteen," Robin ground out, spinning around with the girl, trying to keep her in front of him.

"My bad." She murmured, then brought up her bow and fired at him, quicker than his eye could follow. Robin threw himself out of the way, tucking into a somersault and coming up throwing two batarangs at the girls bow. She deflected them easily and shot another arrow at him. Robin dodged again, watching the arrow as it hit the wall behind him. It wasn't like the arrows Green Arrow and Speedy used (assuming Speedy still used arrows), but was sharpened and deadly, not dull and explosive. The girl also seemed able to fire at a close distance with incredible accuracy – whoever trained her, most likely Sportsmaster, was good.

Robin jumped to his feet and ran at the girl head-on. Even she couldn't fire at a target two feet in front of her face. When he was two feet away, the Boy Wonder leaped up, soaring over the girl's head and releasing two more batarangs at her. He flipped and landed gracefully on the other side, only to get nearly driven to the ground by a foot flying at his face.

Robin ducked and sent a kick of his own at the assassin girl. She was an assassin, he reasoned, not just an average criminal. She was trained by Sportsmaster, who was an assassin, so that made her an assassin. In Robin's mind. The girl blocked his kick and sent a punch towards his face. She overestimated his height, though, and hit only air. Robin handspringed backwards and laughed.

"Fail!" He shouted, dancing out of her reach. Assassin girl growled and ran at him with her bow swinging. Robin nimbly leaped out of the way and commenced to lead her in a dance around the alley, springing off walls, and sending batarangs at her every other moment.

"Stay still!" Assassin girl shouted, angrily taking a swipe at him with her bow, and missing again.

"You wish!" Robin said with a cackle. They continued like that for another minute until the girl's patience finally snapped and she hurled herself at Robin, landing on top of him and bringing her bow down hard at his face. Robin managed to pull out his eskrima sticks and just barely got them up to block the blow.

He rolled backwards and kicked her off, his ribs screaming in pain from the weight that had been put on them previously. He got to his feet, his arm pressed to his side as he faced Assassin Girl again. They were both panting hard, neither used to such competition. It was obvious that the girl was on par with Robin, if not above. That was new.

Robin handspringed backwards, the girl watching him with wary eyes the whole time, waiting for what he was about to do. She'd just drawn an arrow when the acrobat launched himself off the wall and dove towards her. She moved out of the way, Robin somersaulting as he missed his target. Rolling to his feet, he felt a foot land on his upper back, sending him flying forward into the ground. He rolled again, this time coming up faster and turning around to face his opponent.

He ran at her again, ducking under her bow and her legs, sliding across the ground and sending a kick at the back of her knees. She gave a cry and fell forward, nearly falling over but shoving her bow into the ground to keep her balance. Robin back-handspringed into a standing position and rushed at her back, setting a foot on it and leaping over her head, flipping in mid-air until he stood facing her. He jumped up, sending a round-house kick to her arm and the girl, still recovering from the previous blow, went flying to the side.

She righted herself and charged at the Boy Wonder, anger and frustration evident on her scowling features. She sent a punch to his face, but he ducked. He retaliated with an uppercut to her jaw. She surprised him by grabbing his arm and twisting it sharply behind his back, forcing him to turn away from her. If he hadn't been double jointed she probably would've dislocated his shoulder.

Robin yelped in pain, but stepped back, sending his steel-toed boot into her foot. Now it was her turn to shout and she yelled a curse in some other language, releasing the boy and grabbing her foot. Robin jumped away, rubbing his shoulder. Assassin Girl glared at him, her dark eyes boring into him as she sent her bow flying into his side, knocking him to the ground.

"I wish you would just leave me alone. I don't want to hurt you." She said angrily, kicking him in his bad side. Robin hissed in pain and rolled up to his feet, his hand grasping at his injury. The girl raised her eyebrow.

Clenching his teeth, Robin sent a kick flying at her face, only to have it blocked by the bow. The bow came swinging at his head and he ducked, jumping forward and tackling her to the ground. He sat on her chest, pinning both her arms to her side. The girl struggled violently, nearly dislodging the acrobat from his position but he held her down with all his strength. Now if he could only reach his utility belt….

"What do we have here?"

Great, the girl had back-up. Suddenly Robin felt himself being lifted off the ground by his cape, his hands being torn off of Assassin Girl's shoulders and his eskrima sticks clattering away across the pavement. He looked down and found himself suspended in midair, his feet a foot off the ground. Before he could struggle he felt a rope wrapping itself tightly around his arms and chest, preventing him from moving more than his feet. And kicking in midair would be fruitless, not to mention it would look dumb. Assassin Girl got to her feet, brushing herself off and glared at whoever held Robin.

"I had this covered!" She yelled, waving her bow around.

"Obviously," said a new voice, also feminine, but older sounding. "I'm doing you a favor, sister." Oh, so they had a sibling thing going on.

"What do you want?" Assassin Girl demanded.

"Always with the questions, my dear sister," The voice chuckled. It sounded muffled and Robin struggled to turn around and see whoever was holding him. "What makes you so sure I want anything? Can't a girl help her sister?"

Assassin Girl snorted. "Yeah right."

"You don't believe me?"

"You act like that's a surprising thing."

"When have I ever lied to you?"

"How about, right now?"

The figure holding Robin only laughed and shook the Boy Wonder back and forth. "Time for a cat to dispose of a certain little bird."

"Put him down. He's mine."

"Mm, protective. And yet, I have a hard time believing that, after all this time, you'll really kill someone so young and," the voice chuckled. "Innocent. How about I save you the trouble." Robin suddenly felt the cold tip of something that looked like a miniature trident at his neck.

"Don't touch him!"

"Looks like someone's got a little crush."

The girl pressed what Robin assumed was a communicator in her ear. She waited a moment, then smiled. "Dad will be here any minute." So it was a family business. "Just put the boy down and leave. How do you think he'll feel about you messing with the mission?"

The miniature trident slowly withdrew from its place at Robin's neck. Robin released a breath didn't know he'd been holding.

"You play a dangerous game, sister. Until next time, then." And then Robin felt himself being whipped through the air and then tossed at the wall. Unable to catch himself due to his lack of arm usage, his injured side rammed into the unforgiving brick and he slid limply to the ground. Looking up, he saw the back of a figure retreating into the darkness, wearing what looked like a green kimono.

Robin groaned, rolling onto his back and struggling to sit up without the use of his hands. The movement sent spiking pain up his side and he assumed he'd reinjured his ribs colliding with the wall. Suddenly he felt hands on his back and he was raised into a sitting position and his back was placed against the wall. His eyes widened as he saw Assassin Girl undoing the ropes around his chest. Once they were mostly off, he pulled them over his head and made to stand, searching the ground for his eskrima sticks. Rough hands pushed him down, only making him struggle more.

"Relax, Wonder Boy. I'm not going to hurt you."

"Tell that to Ms. Hyde who was trying to kill me a minute ago."

"As the sidekick to the World's Greatest Detective, you're seriously lacking in the whole 'Detective' category. If I wanted you dead, I would have let my sister kill you."

"How do I know you didn't want to kill me yourself?" Robin asked, ceasing his struggles as he smarted from the detective comment.

"Would I have untied you? No, didn't think so." The girl smirked.

"But why?" Robin asked, once again trying to stand, but falling back gasping in pain.

"Must there always be a reason?" She asked, lowering him to the ground and looking him over.

"Maybe. Why would an assassin girl suddenly help someone she'd just been trying to kill?" Robin retorted, running his hand over his ribs.

"I wasn't trying to kill you. Just get you off my back." She replied, watching him rub his injuries. "Broken ribs?" She asked.

"One, it was only fractured, but getting thrown into a brick wall probably didn't help it much."

"Let me see." Assassin Girl said, her hand already on his chest.

"You just told your sister that your dad was coming. This won't look good – you know, you helping me and all." Robin stated, raising his eyebrows at her as she ran her hand over his ribs.

"He's coming, but Batty chased him all the way to the other side of Gotham until he lost him. He won't be here for a few minutes still. I really only said that so _she_ would leave." She stressed, gently pressing on his side in different spots until she hit his broken rib and he let out a gasp through clenched teeth. She continued to feel the area, Robin struggling not to wiggle away from her as she prodded the now cracked bone.

"That ribs definitely broken now," She said, moving her hand away. She then reached out her hand and he took and she pulled him up.

"I still don't understand why you're helping me," Robin said, as he eyed Assassin Girl cautiously.

"Listen; just don't bring this up, to anyone, okay? Not to Batman, not to anyone."

"Okaaay…."

Assassin Girl sighed, retrieving a few of her arrows she'd previously shot at Robin. She looked stressed, Robin observed, worried even. He still couldn't understand why she had helped when he'd been chasing her and fighting her only minutes before. It just didn't make sense. Especially since it seemed that Sportsmaster was her father. Maybe that was the reason. She wasn't really an assassin, only her dad was. It made sense….

"Hey, listen, Assassin Girl-"

"Artemis."

"What?"

"My name's Artemis."

"Oh, okay, Artemis." Robin said, rolling the name over in his mouth. Artemis, he thought, Greek goddess of the moon. Was an archer and an eternal virgin or something like that. "Thanks."

"Whatever. Don't come to expect this."

Robin watched her shove her last two arrows into her quiver and throw a broken one away in disgust. Then, unable to help himself, he said: "You said before you weren't trying to kill me."

"Yeah, and?"

"Well, why not?"

"Maybe the same reason I helped you."

"So there is a reason?" Robin laughed, making his eyebrows dance behind his mask.

"I never knew the Boy Wonder was so immature."

Robin was about to retort when Artemis put her finger on her communicator in her ear. She frowned, then swung her bow over her shoulder and pulled out a grapple gun.

"Looks like I gotta fly, Wonder Boy."

"What makes you so sure I'll let you get away?" Robin asked, suddenly remembering that this girl probably had close to a million dollars on her back. Batman would not be happy if he let her get away.

"That's some way to repay my help." Dang, he'd forgotten about that. "Besides," She added, shooting her hook at the roof behind her. "You'll have to catch me." She ascended to the top of the roof and disappeared into the shadows, leaving a frustrated Robin on the ground. This was why he didn't like it when villains played both sides. He wondered if he'd ever see her again.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **So yes, i felt this was kinda short, but i'm not too great at writing fight scenes yet. Next chapter is already turning out great, and i can't wait to post it! Barbara's in it!

Well, that's all! Please review and tell me what you think!


	5. Hero Gig

**A/N: **Yay, i'm back. Okay, so i changed the summary again. I think i like this one and will keep it. I've been having a hard time getting a summary that, well summarizes, without giving anything away. But here it is.

Thanks sooooo much to: **Dextra2 (**don't think i'll give Rob powers. Sorry! but that's not really the direction this is going. Please read anyway! it will still be cool!**), Syl (**glad you like it!**), C0pypa5ted3lete (**I love your reviews so much! They're sooooo great! Keep them coming! :)**) FudoTwin17 (**glad you like too!**)**

And thanks also to all favoriter/alerters. I now have over 20 reviews! Most ever for me! Keep reviewing!

Oh, and i don't own Young Justice, in case you were wondering.

* * *

><p>Robin didn't see Assassin Girl, or Artemis, again for a long time and he began to think she'd left Gotham altogether. That or she managed to free herself from Sportsmaster. He hoped it was the latter. For whatever reason, that girl wasn't a 'normal' assassin, or whatever she was supposed to be. Not that there was such a thing as a 'normal' assassin, but one got the general gist. Robin had of course told Batman how she'd saved him from her apparent 'sister' (and gotten a berating from the Dark Knight for letting himself get incapacitated so easily) and Batman, being nosy as he was, looked into her. As it turned out, there were no records of an 'Artemis' working with either Sportsmaster or the League of Shadows. Whoever she was, she was new and unknown. That, added the fact that neither of the Dynamic Duo heard or saw her again basically ended the investigation.<p>

So it wasn't a surprise that when Robin did finally see Artemis again, he'd almost forgotten all about her. Especially considering all the things that had happened since their last run-in almost a month ago.

The team, Young Justice as it was called, though Robin wasn't too keen on the name, was off to a good start, with two missions under its belt and multiple other 'unofficial' ones as well. They'd even decided on a leader, which had turned out to be harder than they'd originally thought. Robin had, in the end, pronounced Aqualad as leader, which the others all agreed to, even though the Boy Wonder had been vying for the spot in the first place. Robin saw it as his place to be leader of the Team, (and apparently so did Aqualad for he'd said he would hand the burden over to Robin when he was ready) and he'd originally thought he'd make a great leader. Until it became obvious that his dynamic with Batman was getting in the way. So he'd let Aqualad lead. For now.

Other than the leader situation, the Team had been getting along fairly well with each other, though it had taken a couple of bumps for them to really mesh. He'd always got along well with Kid Flash and Aqualad and soon found the new additions to be just as easy, if not easier, to get along with. Miss Martian, Martian Manhunter's 'niece' (though Robin thought something about the claim was fishy) was almost like a motherly figure, caring for everyone on the team and even attempting to cook for them. She was especially nice to Robin, and he presumed this was because he was the youngest and smallest and her motherly instinct was especially strong towards him. Of course it might also have had something to do with the fact that Kaldur acted like an adult and Wally spent all his time flirting with her. Oh and Superboy….

Well, Robin soon found Superboy was an interesting case, no matter what the circumstances. Miss Martian, whose real name was M'gann M'orzz or Megan, seemed to have developed a liking for him and his t-shirt. (Wally had taken him shopping so he didn't have to wear his white pajama solar suit all the time. He'd bought the clone a black Superman t-shirt and cargo pants, which was all he ever wore. Ever.) He and the Martian were staying at Mt. Justice as permanent residents and Robin was told the clone had actually slept on a bed once or twice now. Neither alien was very well versed in Earth culture, but the Kryptonian seemed to have no clue whatsoever about anything that wasn't 'practical' as Cadmus would have put it. Hence there had been some awkward moments but Superboy was adjusting well and everyone on the team liked him a lot. Especially M'gann, but Robin kept that to himself, for Wally's sake.

In all, Robin found he enjoyed the Team immensely, as, despite the painful fact that he was the youngest (not counting the nineteen week old clone, who everyone acted like was sixteen years old) all his teammates looked up to him. He had the most experience and was trained by_ the_ Batman. It was also nice to get out from under the watchful eye of his mentor. As much as Robin enjoyed working with Batman, he needed a chance to stretch his wings (metaphorically of course, for he wasn't, despite his name, a bird! Robin Hood people!) and the Team gave him the perfect opportunity to do so.

On this particular evening, Robin was doing just that: stretching his wings. But this time, he was alone. Bruce Wayne was throwing some sort of ball, party, thing for the Gotham City Police and the mansion was a flurry of activity as it was getting decorated for the big night. Dick, sick of the stuffy decorators and obnoxious, random news reporters showing up at the door every twenty minutes, had donned his Robin costume and taken to the skies. He was surprised at how relieved he'd been to get outdoors. Once he'd hit the streets, all his stress, which he didn't know he had in the first place, had melted away, and he'd laughed almost maniacally as he swung through the streets of Gotham.

He'd been a lot more uptight than he'd thought, he soon found, as he made his way across the rooftops. At first he wondered why, then the explanation came crashing down like a meteor. Cadmus. In the weeks since the Cadmus incident, multiple kidnapping attempts had been made on Robin, and Batman soon traced them all back to everyone's favorite illegal underground lab. For whatever reason, Cadmus wanted Robin back, and he was willing to bet everything that it had something to do with what had happened in the cloning tubes. Batman agreed, but because lack of evidence and the fact that all his scans on Robin's genetic make-up, looking for changes, came back negative, he continued to research all possibilities and repeatedly scan Robin for any changes.

So, the constant scanning, coupled with Batman's continuous peppering of questions on what _exactly_ happened in Cadmus, and his relentless search for answers, had caused a certain Boy Wonder to get uptight. Not that anyone would blame him.

Robin let out a whoop as he flew around a corner, enjoying the feeling of the wind whipping through his hair. His eyes were wide behind his mask and his mouth was stretched in a grin as the cares of the previous weeks melted away. This was where he belonged. Soaring through the air like a bird (_not_ that he was a bird), the wind in his ears and the unforgiving ground hundreds of feet below him. He was born to fly. From the moment he'd first set foot on the trapeze platform and grabbed the bar, he knew _that _was where he belonged. He'd been so afraid that he'd lose that along with his parents, and for a couple of months he had, but then he'd become Robin and got it all back. That had been one of the greatest days since before his parent's deaths: when he'd donned his new Robin suit for the first time and had grappled along rooftops with the Batman. He'd never forget that day.

If only everything was as easy as it had been when he was younger, he thought, coming to rest on a rooftop for a moment. He glanced up at the sky for a moment, wondering the hour, only to remember it was cloudy out and the sun wasn't visible, so he instead pulled his watch out of his utility belt. The party was in two hours; he still had about forty-five minutes until Bruce would begin to wonder where he was. He walked over to the edge of the roof and sat down, his feet dangling over the edge. He swung them back and forth as he watched inner-city Gotham go about its business. He wasn't really sure what he was looking for; sure, if there was a robbery or a mugging he'd be all over it, but mostly he was just watching life as usual. It was actually relaxing. Until he saw _her_ again.

There was Assassin Girl, beating up a couple of muggers. Woah, woah, woah, rewind. So Assassin Girl was now taking down criminals, instead of heroes? Interesting…. Robin decided this deserved an investigation, because, after all, one didn't just go from being a butt-kicking, underhanded, criminal chick to hero in a few weeks. Unless she was never one to begin with….

Robin grappled down into the street below, a more back-alley-type street, and watched from the shadows as Assassin Girl took out the two muggers and tied them to a lamppost, handing a rather rich looking woman her purse back. The lady thanked her, and then whipped out her cell phone, probably calling her limousine to come pick her up. Or if she possessed a few more brain cells than the average fat cat, perhaps the police. Assassin Girl glanced around quickly before taking off down the shadowy side street, leaving the muggers for the police. Robin followed her, sticking to the shadows. It was time to find out what this girl was playing at.

He followed her until they reached an alley behind a bunch of restaurants. It smelled like a mixture between rotten gourmet food and rotten, fat-based, fast food. There were dumpsters of all kinds lining the back walls of the restaurants, all overflowing their greasy, green and fuzzy contents onto the cement. Here Assassin Girl stopped and leaned against a wall, sliding down into a sitting position only to quickly jump up again as she discovered she'd sat on a pile of trash from the overflowing dumpsters.

"Gross, huh?" Robin smirked, stepping out of the shadows, holding his hands up to show he was unarmed. Assassin Girl jumped again at the sound of his voice and immediately nocked an arrow and trained it at him.

"Woah, watch it, Assassin Girl."

"What do you want, Wonder Boy?"

"Why do I have to 'want' anything?"

"You think you are so clever."

"I know I am so clever."

"Listen, kid," Artemis said, now annoyed, lowering her bow and standing over Robin looking down at him. "Just cause I save your ungrateful butt once, doesn't mean I actually want to see your face ever again."

"I said thanks," Robin retorted, looking up into her mask-covered face. "And I was actually doing you a favor, letting you see my ridiculously handsome face again. This is the face Gothamites swoon over."

"Yeah, if they're like, twelve years old. Now get lost." She said, sidestepping him and starting off down the alley. Robin quickly moved to stand in front of her again.

"Hold up, I'm not done talking." He said, a smirk on his face.

"Well_ I_ am." Assassin Girl growled, pushing him aside. Robin sighed. The time for small talk was over.

"Artemis!" He said, grabbing her arm. He found it was insanely muscled. "Back there, with the muggers-"

"So that's what this is about?"

"Why did you do it?" Robin asked. "I thought you were all in with Sportsmaster."

"If I was, as you put it, 'in with Sportsmaster', would I have saved you that night? Seriously kid, you work with the World's Greatest Detective. Your poor reasoning skills are giving him a bad name."

"So you aren't in with Sportsmaster." Robin stated, ignoring her detective comment.

"Yes, that's kinda what's being implied." She said through gritted teeth. "No need to act so thick."

Robin glared at her. She only raised an eyebrow at him before attempting to shake his hand off her arm. Robin tightened his grip.

"So you're working on the right side of the law now?" He asked, his masked eyes locking onto hers.

"You know I could scream for help right now, and you really wouldn't be in a good position."

"You didn't answer my question," He objected, letting go of her arm.

"Why do care, anyway?" She retorted, yanking her arm back. "And I can't really be working on the wrong side of the law, saving a lady and beating up a couple hoods. Really, Wonder Boy, I was told you were clever."

Robin was about to yell something extremely clever when he heard the sound of whistling and instinctively dropped to the ground, yanking Artemis down with him as a knife whipped over his head. That was close.

"What was that?" Artemis demanded, picking herself up and brushing off her pants.

"I don't-" Robin began, but stopped as another knife came spinning towards his head. He easily dodged, saying: "Whatever it is, it can't be good."

"Oh really?" Artemis asked sarcastically. "Figured that out on your own, did you Sherlock?"

Once again Robin's comment was lost as a short, stout figure stepped into their view, surrounded by so many armed men that neither teen could count them quickly.

"Aha! We found him!" The short figure exclaimed in a nasally voice. "Hello Bird Boy. And, uh, friend?"

"Who's this guy?" Artemis asked, looking unimpressed.

"Penguin." Robin growled. "I know you like birds, but I didn't think I was really your type. What was it you said about it last time? Robins are too small and chirpy?"

"Eh, I'm not here to get you, Birdy," Penguin grumbled, coming fully out of the shadows. "Well, actually I am, but not for myself." He was twirling his loaded umbrella and looked rather annoyed. His black suit covered in a fine layer of dirt and it was rumpled and ripped in places.

"You aren't looking too whelmed." Robin smirked, eyeing the men behind him carefully and drawing two batarangs.

"Whelmed? Really?" Artemis asked, her bow drawn and her eyes also trained on Penguin and his goons.

"Yeah," Robin replied, turning to her and explaining: "See it's like not underwhelmed, but not overwhelmed, somewhere in betwee-"

"Ach! I don't have time for this!" Penguin exclaimed, exasperated. "I'm going to be late for my night club! And I have to change my suit, because _someone _just had to take the long and dirty way!" He glared pointedly at one of his men, who at least had the sense to look sheepish.

"Uh, sorry boss, I-"

"Cut the apologies. Just get the boy!"

The men all rushed towards Robin and Artemis, weapons raised and cocked if possible. Sparing a quick glance at Assassin Girl, Robin saw she was ready to take on all challengers. And probably die. He knew they both wouldn't last long against all of Penguin's men, so he did the one thing he really hated doing: he grabbed Assassin Girl's arm and took off running. Robin dragged her around a corner as soon as possible to better avoid the bullets whizzing overhead. At least most all of them were bad shots. He briefly glanced behind them and saw the thugs in pursuit.

"Remember, don't kill him!" Penguin shouted, not bothering to try and follow them. "Only slightly maim, and then if only absolutely necessary. Oh, oh! You can cut his arm off! I think they can regrow that. Or maybe not. Actually, don't cut off any limbs, but I think you can use your knives, as long as there's no permanent damage. And hurry up with up! I don't have all night."

"Cadmus," Robin murmured, his feet striking the ground hard as he raced alongside Artemis.

"Why are we running?" She shrieked, looking half ready to stop and fight. "Better question: why am I running with _you_?"

"Feel free to leave at any time," Robin replied, working on pulling up a map on his gauntlet computer. "But I'm not stupid enough to take on twenty armed men with only a supposedly reformed assassin who seems to hate me."

"If I hated you would I have saved you?"

"Always with the saving me thing," Robin sighed.

"But you're right, I do hate you," Artemis continued, ignoring him. "But I _did_ save you, so I'm not about to let my hard work go to waste by letting that freak kill you."

"You're too kind." Robin murmured. He watched as Assassin Girl glanced back, watching the thugs come around a corner into view; she was obviously considering stopping and fighting. He breathed an inaudible sigh of relief when she turned back and continued running, sighing herself and shoving her nocked arrow back in her quiver and repositioning her grip on her bow for easier running.

"Fine, you win; we don't fight. But I'm getting off this freak-ride as soon as possible."

Robin smirked. "Be my guest."

He finally managed to pull up a map of Gotham's streets and pinpointed his location, scanning the holographic display for any ideal place to ditch their tagalongs.

Suddenly a club came sailing through the air, zipping between their heads before hitting a garbage can with such force it dented and tipped over, nearly crumpled in half.

"Someone's gotta strong arm," the archer mused.

"Listen," Robin said, panting slightly. "There's a good place for you to disappear up here. If you can avoid the thugs until they pass by, they'll leave you alone. They're only after me."

"And I can believe you why?"

"You must seriously have a poor view of heroes." Robin told her, shaking his head. "Our job is to help people, got it? I'm trying to help you. It's what I do."

Artemis narrowed her eyes, then sighed. "Fine, but if I get away, you get away." Robin gave a questioning look. Did she actually just say something nice to him?

"I guess I'm kinda trying to do the whole hero gig too," She admitted, looking away. "I'm not doing so hot a job."

"Never too late to get better," Robin pointed, giving her a small smile. She smiled uneasily back.

They turned another corner and soon found themselves in one of the more shady parts of Gotham. Like there was a part of Gotham that wasn't shady. Robin's gaze flicked between watching where he was going, to scanning his holographic map for a good place to dump their company. He'd located one, in the next one hundred yards, when Artemis grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop.

"Wha-" He started, looking up angrily at her, but she grabbed his head and faced it forward. The sight he beheld cut off whatever else he was going to say.

There was a group of about five or six armed ruffians standing in their paths, two of which were patting big clubs on their hands, rather menacingly in a cliché sort of way. Penguin could be seen waddling up behind them, panting and leaning heavily on his umbrella as he wiped his beading face with a silk handkerchief. Now that they'd come to a halt, the other ten or so men had caught up with them and were now fanning out and surrounding them, though rather poorly. They were cornered. And not even in a corner. Robin glanced at Artemis, only to find her circling distractedly, an arrow nocked and her bow drawn. It looked like he was alone on this one.

"How'd you catch up to us, Penguin?" He asked, for the purpose of buying time and the sake of his curiosity.

"Ever heard of motor vehicles, Bird Boy?" Penguin huffed, pushing roughly through the line of men in front of him. "And you're not the only with a map of Gotham." Dang, Robin had forgotten Penguin was actually possessed a level of intelligence.

"I'd thought you'd given up the, quote, quote, 'directly' criminal business." Robin tried again.

"Ach, not the talking again!" Penguin exclaimed. "You've always been so chatty. You know, that's why I came to Gotham: Batman doesn't talk! Then he just had to go along and get you and ruin it all…. And if you must know, I'm a little short on money."

"So Cadmus is paying you."

"And again! Do you expect me to just stop and give a flow blown speech about evil I am and how I'm going to kill you and chop you up and feed your pieces to my dogs? Well I don't have dogs and I can't kill you, so stop asking questions!"

"Ooo-kay," Robin hummed, at a loss. He threw his gaze around the alley quickly, taking in everything from the tall brick buildings, probably used as storage units now, on either side to the debris scattered around. It mostly consisted of broken crates and packing boxes, with a few suspicious looking items, obviously thrown out in an attempt to hide them, but were forgotten and never retrieved. Robin quickly calculated all possible escape routes, if it came to that (which, seeing as it was two to about twenty, it probably would): neither building had any windows facing the alley, and there were enemies on both their front and back. The only way out was up. He shot a glance at Artemis, then discreetly motioned towards the sky with his head. She nodded in confirmation.

"Alright, Bird Boy," Penguin announced, his breath back now and his thugs waiting his command. "I'm in a hurry here. If you come quietly, I won't hurt your girlfriend, deal?"

"She's not my girlfriend," Robin ground out, before he could stop himself. That was really immature.

"Whatever." Penguin said, waving his pudgy hands. "Still, come quietly, or suffer mercilessly and all that."

"So," Artemis whispered, looking down at the young vigilante. "We take 'em and when we fail, we high tail it outta here?"

"Yep."

"Why didn't we just do that in the first place?"

"Didn't know if you were with me or not."

And without giving Penguin a moments warning they both let loose a series of arrows and batarangs at the men surrounding them, two finding their target, and positioned themselves back to back subconsciously. Robin noticed offhandedly that Artemis now carried multiple trick arrows along with the deadly sharp ones she'd had last time they'd met. The ruffians were taken by surprise and stared dumbly at their fallen comrades for a second until Penguin started jumping up and down and screaming at them to attack. But not kill. And that's what Robin used against them.

It soon became apparent that Artemis and Robin had no idea how to fight together and ended up getting in each other's way. As if by telepathic agreement they both took a separate group of hooligans, trying as hard as possible not cross each other's path. After a series blows were exchanged and five criminals lay on the ground, it became evident that Robin and Artemis would not be able to keep up their fight against overwhelming odds. There was nowhere for Robin to disappear nor enough room for acrobatics and Artemis was at too close of quarters to use her bow, so their greatest assets were unavailable to them.

_Time to fly_, Robin thought. He shot a look at Artemis and she nodded as she fended off four guys with her bow. He flashed a smile at Penguin, who'd been hanging back behind his men and egging them on very enthusiastically, jumping up and down looking agitated and waving his loaded umbrella. Soon Robin found himself back to back with Artemis again as they desperately defended themselves from a never ending onslaught of blows. Robin received a hard punch to his jaw and a knee to the stomach before he managed to shoot out his grappler and latch it onto the roof. The acrobat then grabbed the archer and they both shot up out of the fray, kicking off grabbing hands, Robin's laugh echoing behind them and his voice shouting: "Maybe next time, Penguin!" followed by a squawk of anger.

The two heroes dropped down onto the roof and took off running along it, leaping from one to the next as the fought to put distance between themselves and their opponents. Once they were sure no one was following them and they were nearly a mile away from the spot, they stopped their head long dash, slowing to a halt on the roof of an apartment building. They both gasped for breath and Robin held his side as his rib twinged painfully, a reminder of the fight with Superboy nearly a month ago. The sky was nearly dark now; Robin had to get to the mansion or he'd be late for the party.

"Okay, can I get some legit answers now?" Artemis asked, in between gasps.

"What do you mean," Robin panted, making quotes in the air with his fingers. "'legit' answers?"

"Well, for starters, what exactly is Cadmus and why are they after you?" Crap, she must've heard him mutter about Cadmus.

"How do you know Cadmus is after me?" Robin asked. "What if it's the name of my girlfriend?" Yeah, so it wasn't the best excuse ever, but he could roll with it.

Artemis raised an eyebrow at him. "Really: girlfriend? Best you could come up with?"

Robin huffed at her, his bangs fluttering as he did so.

"I'm not stupid, Wonder Boy. Chubby wasn't after you for himself."

"Why do you care?" Robin asked. "I thought you didn't even want to see me again. Why the sudden interest in my personal life?"

Artemis put her hands on her hips and looked annoyed. "Heroes help people, remember? Maybe I'm trying to help you."

"Maybe I don't need your help." Robin retorted, crossing his arms.

"I just saved you; again. You obviously need help."

"_I_ saved _you_!" Robin cried indignantly.

"Mmmhm?"

It took all of Robin's willpower not to stamp his foot like an upset five year old. Assassin Girl was really getting on his nerves. And he really had to get home. He took a deep breath, his options playing through his head. As much as he wanted to know more about Artemis, it didn't seem he could without divulging secrets of his own, which wasn't about to happen. Maybe next time.

Robin backed up to the edge of the roof, a small smile coming to play on his lips. "Hate to leave so soon, but I gotta run. Stay whelmed, kay? The hero thing will work better that way. Catcha round?"

Without waiting for a reply, Robin spread out his arms and flipped off the roof, his grappler catching onto another at the last second as he left an irate Assassin Girl alone on a rooftop.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Tada! Yeah, so you are all probably Artemis-ed out. I didn't mean to make two chapters with only her and Robin twice in a row, but this chapter got to long with the other part i was going to add, so i stopped it here. Yes, i'm so mean. I said Barbara would be in it, but she's not. She is in the next chapter and has a big part! Oh, and the whole kidnapping thing is explained a little more in the next chapter!

Kay, so one last thing: Would like a Robin/Batman chapter or a Robin/Team/Barbara/Artemis/A little Batman chapter? Oh and also, i'm trying to decide how much Robin's Romany heritage will come into play. Any preferences? Not sure if i should make him speak a little Romany or not or if an accent should ever come into play (i.e. when he's scared, sad).

Yep, that's all, please review!


	6. When Summer's End is Nighing

**A/N:** Well, I'm alive! It's been a long time, I know.

Reviews: thanks to **c0pypa5ted3lete (**I'm so glad you like it! and yes, i plan to have curse in Romany. I'm so honored you like my story so much, and will try to continue writing it as long as possible.**), Anonymous (**here, finally, is the Barbara chapter.**), Wolfram (**glad you like Robin and Artemis' dynamic. i'm working hard on it. oh, Cadmus is so up to no good. Well, maybe not Cadmus. You'll have to wait and see.**), Lakeshine, FudoTwin17****, Katt Kiki, Snickerdoodle22, Inuyasha's tennyo, KobrahEdo (**thanks for the great idea**). **And thanks to everyone who added this to alerts, faves, etc. And to all who answered my questions: The next chapter after this is team/bats/Artemis/Barbara, so thanks for the input. And the Romany will come into play. I really like the idea. Now, onto the story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.

* * *

><p>Robin sighed in relief as he reached the well with a whole forty-five minutes until the party started. Sure Bruce was probably wondering where he was and would probably blow at him for cutting it so 'close', but at least he wasn't late, like last time. Robin smirked at the memory of that particular evening as he pulled out his grappler and descended down the old well in the garden behind the mansion. It wasn't an official entrance to the Batcave, but it was the how Bruce had first found it and, despite being boarded up, it was otherwise still accessible. If you were small and weren't claustrophobic that is. Robin always used the well entrance whenever he was out late and wanted to get in without alerting Bruce by using the zeta-beam or the Batmobile's entrance. Cause the Batmobile entrance was<em> wet<em>.

Once Robin was near the bottom of the well, he released his grappler and flipped to the ground, crouching down and crawling through the small cave entrance in the side of the well. He'd been through it enough to know how to avoid the sharp rocks, but the bats always managed to catch him by surprise. He swatted them away carefully as he army-crawled through the small tunnel. He could make it through with little difficulty, but knew it would be tight for a grown man, so he assumed it must have closed up a bit since Bruce had first discovered it.

Once he was at the end, Robin rolled out of the hole – right into Bruce's legs. The Boy Wonder grinned up sheepishly as his mentor and guardian glared down at him. It wasn't a Batglare, but it was a playboy Bruce Wayne-glare. Still rather unnerving. Robin got to his feet quickly.

"Hey, Bruce."

"Not amused."

"Um, never said you were."

"Where were you?"

"Out getting some air before I suffocate at this party?"

"As Robin." It wasn't a question.

"Yeeees…."

"What happened to your face?"

Robin looked confused for a moment, then put a hand to his face and winced. One of Penguin's men must have punched him.

"Cadmus?" Bruce asked, grabbing his chin and inspecting his face.

"Yeah, pretty sure," Robin replied, involuntarily jerking his face away from his guardian's hand as strong fingers ghosted over his bruised cheek. "Penguin this time."

"Hmm," Bruce hummed, moving over to the Batcomputer and sitting down, looking out of place in his fancy party suit and gelled back hair. Robin scurried over and stood next to him, watching as Bruce pulled up files he'd put together during his investigation into Cadmus. His eyes narrowed as he downloaded information on Penguin into the database, glancing to Robin and ordering:

"Go change. The guests will arrive in a half an hour."

"What about you?"

"I'll be right up."

Robin sighed and began making his way towards the elevator, stopping before he went up and turning back towards Bruce.

"Have you found anything? Since last time, I mean?"

Bruce shook his head without turning from the computer.

"What do think it's all about?"

Bruce sighed, running a hand through his hair. "All evidence points to Cadmus being at the bottom of this; what you told me about what they did to you in the pod, it makes sense. But the fact that every search I've conducted on Cadmus comes to a dead end makes me doubtful. Nearly everyone in Cadmus was controlled in some way by Dr. Desmond and his genomorphs. Now that he's apprehended and Guardian's taken over, all illegal experiments have been shut down. Of all the people I've talked to, none of them have any knowledge of any experiment involving a young boy. Whatever Desmond did to you, he kept a secret from the rest of the lab."

Robin scrunched his face up in concentration. "If every illegal experiment was shut down, whatever Mr. Maniac did to me, or was planning to do, should have been shut down too, right?"

Bruce nodded.

"Then why are they still looking for me?"

"It definitely doesn't make any sense," Bruce agreed, shaking his head. "As far as Guardian is concerned, no one from Cadmus has authorized any kidnapping attempts on you or anyone else."

"But that guy you interrogated," Robin blurted out, his hands gripping Bruce's chair tightly. "And the other guy the other night, they both said they were working for Cadmus!"

"I'm well aware of that fact. Whoever is after you isn't in league with the Cadmus run by Guardian. Guardian isn't involved in any way, meaning whoever is conducting this 'experiment' on you, is doing it under Cadmus' nose, but using its name."

"Maybe it's an old employee or something who worked with Desmond!" Robin suggested. "Once he was arrested, they continued his work."

"Yes, I'm looking into that."

"Any updates on the scans?"

Again Bruce shook his head. "If I only knew they did to you, it would help my search immensely. As it is, I have very little to go off of. For all we know, nothing could have been done to you at all."

Robin grimaced. "I'm pretty sure they did _something_ to me. It sure hurt enough. And besides, if they did nothing, why would they want me back?"

Bruce only sighed in response, running a hand down his face. He then stood and made his way to the examinations table, saying to Robin: "Go change. Forget about this. Guests will be here far too soon."

[Type the sidebar content. A sidebar is a standalone supplement to the main document. It is often aligned on the left or right of the page, or located at the top or bottom. Use the Drawing Tools tab to change the formatting of the sidebar text box.

Type the sidebar content. A sidebar is a standalone supplement to the main document. It is often aligned on the left or right of the page, or located at the top or bottom. Use the Drawing Tools tab to change the formatting of the sidebar text box.]

"M'kay." Robin agreed, stepping into the elevator. "Oh, and Bruce?"

"Hm?"

"Can I talk to you after the party about something?" He asked, remembering the mysterious Assassin Girl. Maybe Bruce would know what was up with her.

"Of course."

oOo

Dick Grayson smiled politely at the woman in front of him. Just from looking at her face he could tell she'd had multiple plastic surgeries and Botox injections and was probably nearly fifty, but looked twenty-five. She also wore way too much make-up for his taste. But of course, playboy billionaire Bruce Wayne smirked at her and accepted her flirting attempts, pretending to act like he was falling head over heels for her. Just as he'd done with the last ten women who'd gone up and introduce themselves to Gotham's White Knight and his adorable young ward. Dick scowled at the last bit. He hated having to play the young, wide-eyed orphan boy all the ladies fawned over. Sure, it wasn't as bad as when he was younger, but everyone still acted like they thought he was ten (some of them probably did think he wasn't much older than ten) and treated him as such.

Dick graciously replied to whatever question the lady asked him, something about being so lucky to have been taken in by such a great man, he wasn't really listening, and politely excused himself under the pretense to go get something to eat.

The party was being held in the manor's large ballroom, which was decked out for the event: flowers and other plants were everywhere, everything was polished until it was nearly blinding, elaborate chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and there were tables upon tables of food. Dick smirked, thinking how Wally would have had a cow at the amount of food sitting out. Have a cow… where did he come up with that one? The whole room was filled with fancily dressed Gothamites; some were members of the police force while others were simply rich and assumed they were invited to every big event in Gotham. So of course they were. And the whole place reeked of perfume and colon and cleaner.

Dick moved swiftly through the crowds of people, cursing his height when he got too close to some tall women wearing particularly short dresses. Everyone was dressed in their best, the women sporting gobs of make-up and the men decked out with gallons of hair gel, all in their finest suits and dresses. Or if they wished, some wore their police clothes, but most didn't. Dick himself wore one of his nicest suit (he had far too suits many in his opinion) and Bruce had even helped him gel his hair and put on concealer over the new bruise on his face. This was one of the bigger parties of the year, so it was imperative that he look his best.

Dick breathed a sigh of relief when he finally got out of the sea of people and over to a table laden with fine delicacies and fancy hors-d'oeuvres that Dick really had no inclination to try. Though some of the desserts were good, but he wasn't really hungry. The young boy tugged at the sleeve of his suit, wishing he didn't have to wear it and the stupid blue tie that was supposed to bring out his eyes. Why did it matter if all the rich snots saw his eyes if even his own friends couldn't?

Dick moaned silently under his breath, leaning against the table, but quickly straightening up again as the hours of etiquette lessons from Alfred stampeded into his mind. If only he could find Barbara, he thought despondently, already sick of the slow waltz music coming from the orchestra in the corner. He fidgeted, uncomfortable with having to be still for so long and hence decided to occupy himself with people watching, seeing as he really had no desire to rejoin Bruce in his flirting.

Dick's blue eyes scanned the crowd of people, picking out certain ones that stood out. He raised an eyebrow at an old man wearing what looked like some sort plumbers-suit-turned-tux with tall, suspiciously rubber looking boots. Dick remembered him from last party; apparently he was an old, extremely rich man who'd gone rather loopy over the past few years. His plumber's tux was actually very dialed down for him. Dick's next victim was a woman who resembled a dog and who was dressed in a furry, knee-length dress. Then a man wearing what looked like rabbit ears. And another man dressed like a superhero, underwear over the pants and all. Then a woman who looked like a robot, her face covered in silver make-up. Apparently being rich could have some negative side-effects on one's sanity.

"Dick, what are you staring at?"

Dick jumped, nearly knocking over a pyramid of some sort of colorful, lumpy dessert. He turned and was struck square in the face by a very pretty girl. He could feel his eyes widen and his mouth drop slightly until he got himself under control enough to realize it was only Barbara Gordon.

"Oh, it's just you."

"Who'd you think it was, Shortstop?" She asked him, raising a delicately shaped eyebrow. "A little jumpy today?"

"Wha-? Oh, uh, yeah." Dick laughed a little. "You just surprised me."

"Uh-huh?" Barbara looked unconvinced. "What were you staring at?" She asked, almost demandingly.

"Just the guy with the bunny ears."

"Oh," She laughed, tension gone from her voice. "Yeah, he's gone off the deep end if you ask me."

"Everyone here's gone off the deep end." Dick muttered, casting one more glance at the bunny-man before taking in the girl in front of him. He was surprised at how nice she looked. Okay, that came out wrong. He was surprised at how different she looked as compared to at school? Better. He'd always thought she was kind of pretty, as much as a thirteen year old boy can think a girl is pretty, what with her red hair and blue eyes, but tonight he thought she looked really pretty.

She was wearing a dark blue, knee length dress and, much to Dick's pleasure, flat bottomed shoes. He never liked it when she wore high heels. She was already taller than him to begin with, so standing next to her in heels was always rather embarrassing for him. As far as he could tell, she wasn't wearing much make-up, but Dick wasn't well versed in make-up – except concealer perhaps. She was carrying some sort of bag which looked way too small and flat to be of any real use and her dress didn't have any straps. Dick never understood why ladies would wear a dress without straps. Weren't they afraid it would fall off or something?

"Um, Dick? You're staring again."

"Huh? Oh, sorry. What were you saying?"

"We were just commenting on how everyone here's gone loopy."

"Oh, right." Dick laughed. They stood facing each other for a moment until Dick started getting fidgety again. He cleared his throat and said: "You look nice."

"Okay, what do you want?"

"How do you know I want anything?"

Barbara gave a 'Do-you-really-think-I'm-that-stupid' look, putting her hands on her hips.

"Come on, Babs, can't a guy compliment a girl once and a while?"

"Not if the guy's you." She smirked, jabbing him in the chest with her finger.

"Touché."

Barbara rolled her eyes and moved around Dick to look at the food.

"Enjoying the party?" She asked, eyeing the foreign-looking delicacies before turning away in mild disgust.

"Do you really need to ask?" Dick asked her, knowing how they both hated coming to these types of parties. "But…." He began, a devious smirk sneaking itself onto his face.

"I know that face, Dick." Barbara reprimanded. "What are you thinking?"

"Well," He began, motioning her to follow him away from the food. "If everyone at this party_ is _loopy, which we've both come to agree, then I believe we are in danger of being infected with the madness."

Barbara raised an eyebrow at him.

"I've come to the conclusion that it would be extremely irresponsible and foolish to remain in the vicinity any longer, for fear of catching the disease. If we really are the only sane people at this party, then wouldn't it be prudent to remain as such?"

"Dick…"

"So, how about it? Make a break for it?" Dick asked, bouncing slightly on his feet and shooting a quick glance in Bruce's direction. His guardian now had two girls hanging onto his arms and another one floating around behind his back. He'd be busy for a while.

"Dick, I don't know. My dad is-"

"-Busy accepting praise for his services as commissioner." Dick finished for her. "Come on, no one will notice we're gone. Do you really want to stay in the perfume-reeking ballroom all night? We can go up to my room, or the game room, or the roof-"

Barbara sighed, smiling slightly at the hyperactive boy in front of her. "Fine, but I don't want to go to your room. Last time I nearly got drowned in all the junk you had on the floor."

"Hey!" Dick protested. "It was only messy cause it was spring cleaning or something. I always clean my room!"

"Or Alfred does."

"_I _do it!"

"Whatever floats your boat."

"That's such a lame saying."

"Shut up, Shorty. What do you know?"

oOo

"Poker?"

"No. Does Bruce even let you play that?"

"Um, Kings in the Corner?"

"No."

"Go Fish?"

"Did you seriously just suggest that?"

"Shut up. It's a great game!" Dick joked, giving her a light shove.

"Yeah, if you're eight. Which might explain why you like it…."

Dick and Barbara sat outside on the roof outside of Dick's bedroom, a deck of cards lying in front of them, Dick trying to get Barbara to play a game with him. She was refusing. They'd easily sneaked out of the ballroom, neither Bruce nor Commissioner Gordon noticing their absence as far as they knew. They'd spent a few minutes sneaking around the mansion and avoiding Alfred, who seemed to be on their tail, but managed to make it to Dick's room without being caught. Barbara had then insisted they go somewhere more interesting so the acrobat took her up onto the roof. Dick had a roof right outside his window, so it was easily accessible.

"Fine then, if you don't want to play cards, what do you suggest we do?" Dick asked, leaning back on his hands and looking up into the sky. It was a pleasant late-summers night and even Barbara was comfortable in her strapless dress. The stars were especially bright that night, without a cloud in the sky. Wayne Manor was far enough out of the city that the numerous, artificial lights wouldn't block out natures illuminations. "Hey, look, it's Orion," Dick pointed. "Or whatever that hunter dude is."

Barbara leaned back and looked up too. "Sometimes I wonder how you ace all your classes."

"It's my charm."

The girl snorted, still staring at the sky. "You know, school starts in a month."

"Yeah," Dick sighed. "School: 'When summer's end is nighing. And skies at evening cloud'…" Dick smirked at Barbara's confused face. "Umm, ' So here's an end of roaming, On eves when autumn nighs: The ear too fondly listens, For summer's parting sighs-"

"'And then the heart replies.'" Barbara finished. "AE Housman."

"Nice."

Barbara just rolled her eyes. "Okay, try this: 'There is another sky, Ever serene and fair, And there is another sunshine, Though it be darkness there….'"

"Emily Dickinson." Dick smirked. He thought for a moment, then: "'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?'"

"Shakespeare."

"Fine. How about: 'Be glad your nose is on your face'-"

"Really, Dick?"

"-'Not pasted on some other place'-"

"Dick!"

"'For if it were where it is not, you might dislike your nose a lot.'" He moved his eyebrows up and down mischievously. "'Imagine if your precious nose,'" He continued, struggling not to laugh at Barbara's annoyed face. "'Were sandwiched in between your toes, that clearly would not be a treat, for you'd be forced to smell your feet.'"

"Richard John Grayson!" Barbara shrieked, lunging at him with her flat purse thing. "You are so immature!" She began hitting him over the head with the purse as he struggled to shuffle backwards away from her, laughing the whole time as her face turned bright red.

Finally Dick managed to wrest the offending handbag away from the red-headed girl and they both sat back, trying to catch their breath in between giggles. Dick smiled, running his hand over his gelled back hair. It had been a while since he'd hung out with Barbara, what with his new team and patrolling with Batman. He'd forgotten how much he enjoyed it, how much he enjoyed just being Dick Grayson.

"Remember when we used to do this all the time?" Barbara asked, as if reading his thoughts. "Whenever Bruce had a party we'd sneak out together and play around the mansion."

Dick smiled at the memory. Alfred must've hated that.

"And then sometimes, when you were grounded, or fell out of another tree and hurt yourself, or you wanted to hang out at your place," Barbara continued. "I'd climb up to your roof and sneak in your window, because I was afraid of Bruce and didn't want to use the front door in case he answered it."

Dick laughed at this, remembering all the times he'd turned around and found the red-haired girl sitting on his windowsill. "Yeah, you were terrified of Bruce."

"I wasn't terrified!" Barbara protested indignantly. "I was just a little nervous. I'd heard some weird rumors."

"From your brother?" Dick asked.

"Probably. But it was fun all the same. I know all the best ways onto your roof now."

"Stalker."

"Whatever."

They both remained silent for a moment, lost in their own memories. Dick watched as Barbara's gaze drifted down to her dress, fingering the edges in a not quite nervous, but almost sad way. Her blue eyes drifted over the silky looking material and her hair fell over her face, cascading off her shoulders as she looked down even more. Her eyes sparkled, or more accurately reflected the light of the stars and moon and Dick couldn't help but think how beautiful she was. It was almost awkward, thinking about your best friend that way, but he couldn't help it.

"Those were good days, Dick Grayson." She whispered, looking up slightly into his face. They sat across from each other, feet stretched out down the slight incline of the roof.

"Yeah," he agreed, knowing where the conversation was going. He'd been brushing her off a lot lately, because of all his hero work and he assumed it was getting to her. "I'm… sorry." He forced out, watching her as her gaze fell back to her dress. "I know I haven't really been around much, but-"

"You could at least tell me why." She blurted out, glaring up at him. He was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

"I did tell you." He protested. "Mathlete stuff. Summer school. I have to take extra classes so I can go to Gotham Academy this year."

Barbara snorted, but it came out more like a sniffle. "With all the time you've been spending on studies, you're going to be the smartest kid in the school." She gave a halfhearted smile, but it was watery at best. "Dick, why won't you tell me what's going on. You're my best friend."

Dick opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say. He'd always thought of her as _his_ best friend, as a civilian, but he never knew she felt the same way. He'd always assumed she had tons of other girl friends from her gymnastics team or something. He had no idea his blowing her off had hit her so hard.

"Wait, I'm your best friend?" He finally managed to get out.

Barbara nodded. "You've always been my best friend, Dick."

Now Dick was even more speechless. He knew he couldn't tell her about his hero work, but what could he tell her? The last thing he wanted to do was lie to her. What he'd said about Mathlete meetings and summer school hadn't been a lie; he was taking classes in the summer and he did attend Mathlete meetings. They'd just recently had their first competition and Dick had won. Not that he really even cared. No one had been there; even Bruce had been busy.

"Well, the truth is," he began, desperately searching his mind for an answer. "I've been spending a lot of time with Bruce lately." It wasn't exactly a lie. He had been spending a lot of time with Bruce. "And he made me join a sort of club thing. It's an outdoors thing." Also not technically a lie; the Team _was_ outside a lot. And they did go on that one camping trip thing.

Barbara looked up at him with a torn expression; like she wanted to believe him, but she couldn't. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I-I thought you might think it was weird. Me spending time with Bruce and all." Now he was pushing the lie-o-meter to its limit.

"W-why would I think it's weird? I spend time with my dad all the time."

"Well, cause, I don't know. Cause he's not my dad." Dick finished quietly, looking down at his shoes. They were black and shiny, with a slightly pointed toe and laces which went back and forth three times. They were rather uncomfortable and hard to walk in (he always felt like a duck when he did) but they fit better than his last, which kept falling off his feet and really made him feel like a duck. Bruce had had Alfred go shopping for them without Dick, so he had really no idea what size to get him. Apparently he'd talked to a salesperson and she'd given him the size of an average thirteen year old boy. It turned out Dick's feet weren't the size of an average thirteen year old boy so he spent a whole night trying not to walk out of his shoes. He'd gotten very good at shuffling.

"Oh." Barbara said quietly, also looking down at her feet. She had black shoes on as well, Dick noticed, but hers looked more comfortable than his. Almost like slippers. Not that he wanted girl's shoes or anything.

"I see." She knew how conflicted he felt about Bruce being like a father to him. He loved Bruce, though he'd never outright say it, and he knew Bruce felt the same about him, but Dick had a father, or did have one anyway, and he wasn't sure how that father would feel about being replaced. Sure, his and Bruce's relationship was similar to that of a father and son, but he still didn't feel okay with thinking of Bruce as his father. Maybe he did, deep down, in that part of his mind that thought on its own accord, never consulting his consciousness about its thoughts, but he'd never do it of his volition. He'd never call Bruce dad, nor would the possibility ever cross his mind. Bruce was his guardian, his mentor, and perhaps even parental figure, but he'd never label him 'dad'.

"I'm sorry." Dick repeated, looking up at the redhead in front of him. "But I just – I wasn't sure how I felt about it myself." The lie-o-meter was really straining now. "And that club thing: well, it's new and I didn't want you to think I was blowing you off for someone else. Cause I'm not." Yeah, there goes the meter altogether.

Barbara took a deep breath and looked up at him, a small smile growing on her face. "I believe you." She said. Dick's conscience pulled out a club and smacked him with it at those words. His insides twisted painfully at the beating.

"And I forgive you." The club turned into a machete and soon Dick's mind was sliced to little bitty pieces. "For whatever you're apologizing for." She finished, smiling.

"Geez," He said, trying to ease his bleeding mind. "Do all girls forgive this fast?"

"Only the nice ones." She jabbed.

"You must be broken then."

"Very funny, Grayson."

"Glad you think so, Gordon."

"So," she said, sitting up straighter. "Any days you're _not_ spelunking or having bonding time?"

"I'm sure I can work one out," Dick replied, trying to calm himself from all the lying he had to do to her. Because he had to do it.

"Okay then." She smiled. He smirked back at her, wishing with all his might he could tell her what was really going on.

"Stop smirking like that, Grayson. It makes me think you're up to no good."

"Maybe I am."

Barbara rolled her eyes and Dick threw her flat purse thing back at her, hitting her in the shoulder. She cried out indignantly and chucked it back, hitting him the face. He glared while she laughed at him, rubbing the spot between his eyes where he'd been hit. She had a good arm.

And the night went on, all the party goers completely oblivious to the two teenagers on the roof: one glad that for at least on night he could be normal and the other glad because she knew he wasn't, and she liked him that way.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Tada! and there's Barbara! I hope i got her personality good. i really didn't have anything to go off of, except her on line in ep. 12 and her cheering in Failsafe. Oh, and i guess her random appearance in season 2 (why five years, why?), but she's way older, so yeah.

The poems are: "When summer's end is Nighing" by AE Housman, "There is another sky" by Emily Dickinson, "Shall I compare thee to a Summer's night" sonnet 18 by William Shakespeare, and "Be Glad your nose is on your face" By Jack Prelutsky.

So, review! pretty please and tell me your thoughts!

Alex out.


	7. Teenage TightWearers

**A/N: **Hello! Here is Chapter 7! I actually like this one a lot, except for a teeny tiny bit in the middle, but I'll ignore it for now! Oh, and sorry for changing the summary AGAIN, but i just can't get a good one. Any suggestions?

Thanks to **C0pypa5ted3lete, Anonymous, FudoTwin17 (I'm honored you think i wrote their personalities well), and Snickerdoodle22 (I know, isn't it exciting? I know i'm always excited when my names in an authors note :) **for reviewing and everyone who favorited, alerted, etc. Thank you!

Disclaimer: I don't own Young Justice.

* * *

><p>Bruce Wayne ran a calloused hand through his hair. Exhaustion was evident on his face as he sat at the Batcomputer in full Batman garb minus the cowl. He'd spent the whole day taking down Amazo with the League and wanted nothing more than to collapse into bed. But as it was, Batman's job was never done. The robot was currently being packed up into two separate vans, heading for a secure location and Batman would soon have to go and check how the job was coming. There were also multiple files up on his Batcomputer, all of which really deserved his attention, but were currently being neglected.<p>

Bruce sighed, reaching for a mug on his desk filled with now-lukewarm coffee. He'd have to ask Alfred to refill it. And to make sure Dick was in bed. The boy needed more sleep than he was getting, what with school starting soon and all. Patrols always made it hard for him to get seven or eight hours a night and often he ran on less than six when school started up. In the summer is was easier and they both usually stayed up well after midnight, sleeping in late the next day, but Bruce knew Dick needed to get in the habit of going to bed earlier before the school year started. Hopefully Alfred would come down soon and Bruce could talk to him about it.

The vigilante-dressed philanthropist turned his attention back to the screen, the light making his eyes ache. The two files that caught his attention the most contained information about Cadmus and a picture of a teenaged girl dressed in black. The second was new, recently created after Dick had told him of Robin's run-in with the ex-assassin-in-training on Gotham's streets. He'd already dug up as much information as possible after the first encounter with Sportsmaster's apprentice, but it hadn't been much and he hadn't dwelled on it for long. Once she'd come into the light once more, this time on the right side of the law, Batman had dug even deeper and created a new file with her labeled as a potential hero. He desperately wanted to find out more about her, especially since she had the nerve to go crusading around his city, and whether or not she could be trusted, but the other file held far more importance in his eyes.

It was labeled Cadmus, though all evidence to this point showed that it really had nothing to do with Cadmus at all. Every lead Batman had found led to a dead end. Every villain he interrogated, every thug he intimidated all claimed they worked for Cadmus, yet upon arriving at the lab, there was nothing. Guardian had no idea what Batman was talking about. There were no records or anything. It was as if whatever they did to Robin had never happened.

Bruce took a sip of the coffee, scowling slightly at the coolness of the liquid, and brought the Cadmus file to the front of the screen. He strained his eyes, desperately trying to find something he might have missed before, something that would explain why_ someone_ wanted Robin. He'd have to talk with Penguin later, see where that led him. Probably just another dead end, but what else could a man do? Even a man who crusaded around Gotham as a bat.

Tomorrow Robin's team would have a mission: they'd be guarding the shipments of Amazo's parts as they crossed the country and he didn't want a kidnapping attempt to get in the way of the mission. Robin would be relatively alone, with probably only one other teammate, most likely Superboy if Batman knew Kaldur, and he'd virtually have no one to back him up if someone attacked him. Superboy was still naïve, and sticking to the mission was about all he could handle at the moment. If someone were to threaten Robin, they'd have no trouble separating the two without Superboy even aware of the absence of his team mate. Then Robin would be alone to confront whoever was hired to get this time. Batman was exceedingly confident in his partner's abilities, but he didn't really want to take any chances.

Bruce scrolled slowly through the file, nothing jumping out at him. He'd been on this case for a little over two weeks, since the kidnapping attempts started, and he'd really made no progress.

A soft whirring sound floated through the Batcave as the elevator came to a halt at the bottom. Bruce looked over to see an elderly gentleman gliding towards him with a tray in one hand and some sort of black cloth in the other.

"Alfred," Bruce sighed, leaning back in his chair and smiling gratefully as Alfred approached him and placed the tray, which Bruce now saw held a dark mug and a small platter of cookies, in front of him, still holding the black fabric.

"Master Bruce," he nodded, English accent heard.

Bruce took a sip of the black coffee and closed his eyes in pleasure as the warmth traveled through him. It was still hot outside, but the Batcave could get chilly at times. He replaced the mug on the tray and turned back to his butler, noticing again the object he held in his hands. He raised an eyebrow at it and Alfred sighed.

"Master Richard's, or Robin's I suppose, cape, sir," he explained, handing it to the billionaire. "I went up to make sure he was asleep and found it on his floor."

"So I assume he is asleep then?" Bruce asked, taking the cape from the butler and running it through his hands. It was relatively clean, though smelled old so he assumed it had been lying in Dick's room for a while.

"Yes, quite." Alfred assured. "Though he was mumbling something in some language I could not decipher. I trusted it was normal occurrence, though, and let him be."

Bruce only chuckled, amused at his ward's sleeping habits.

"Have you found anymore leads, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked, noticing the file on the computer screen for the first time.

"I'm afraid not, Alfred."

"Hmmm. Perhaps you should alert the League of this."

"No," Bruce said quickly, reaching for his mug again. "No, the League doesn't need to get into this. This is about Robin, and he's my partner. I can handle this."

"And you don't want the League getting the way." It wasn't a question.

"You know me too well, Alfred."

"Indeed I do, Master Bruce. Indeed I do."

oOo

"_Recognized: Robin B-01."_

"I left my sock there and now it's gone!"

"I am sure there is a reasonable explanation-"

"Yes! Maybe it was magic!"

"There's only one thing that could have happened to it-"

"Maybe someone's washing it-"

"I am sure we can find it, my friend-"

"-It originated from a particularly acidic chemical on the cave floor-"

"I'm leaving now…."

"Oo! Are you looking? I'll help look!"

"-Exposed to such extreme environment conditions, the molecules in the sock broke down, the acid eating away at the chemical bonds -"

"Perhaps it fell under the couch."

"Not over here!"

"Until only the base components were left and – Robin!"

"Hey, KF, whatcha doing?" The boy in question asked, walking over to where Wally stood on the arm of the couch behind which Kaldur's back end was visible, his head stuck underneath the furniture. Robin could make out M'gann and Superboy in Mount Justice's kitchen, the Martian poking her head in the cupboards while the clone stood watching. They were all dressed in civilian clothes, Robin included, his mandatory dark glasses in place. He had no idea what was going on, but judging from the Team's various positions, he could only assume the worst.

"You won't believe what happened, Rob!" Wally exclaimed, jumping off the couch and positioning himself in front of the younger boy.

"Considering it's you, I probably won't." Robin agreed, folding his arms over his chest.

"My sock spontaneously decomposed!"

Robin blinked, taken aback by Wally's declaration, then gave Wally a questioning look, hoping he would elaborate. He did.

"See, I left my sock on the floor-"

"Your first mistake," Robin muttered.

"-And when I came back to get it, it was gone! I looked everywhere for it!" Robin had a hard time believing that. "But I couldn't find it anywhere! The only truly plausible explanation is that some sort of highly acidic chemical rose up from the floor and-"

"Is this what you're looking for?" Superboy suddenly asked, walking into the room, holding a grey sock in his hand.

"My sock!" Wally shrieked, racing over and snatching the sock from Superboy's hand. He began turning it over, leaning in close, eyes squinted as he examined every inch of it.

"That's wonderful Superboy." Kaldur exclaimed, crawling out from under the couch and congratulating the clone.

"Good job!" M'gann applauded, floating out of the kitchen.

"Where was it Superboy?" Robin asked, watching as Wally sniffed his sock, a pensive look coming over his face.

"Um, on my foot," The clone answered awkwardly, glancing down at his boot as if to check for any leftover sock residue. Robin didn't blame him; Wally's socks were gross.

"Well, I'm sure Wally is very happy you found it." Kaldur told him, looking over to where the speedster stood. "Perhaps you'd like to thank him, Wally?"

"Huh?" Wally asked, looking up from where he looked like he was about to lick his sock. "Oh, oh yeah. Thanks Supey."

The clone grunted and stalked away, looking disgruntled at the current events.

"I'm, uh, going for a walk." He said, before disappearing around the corner. Three pairs of eyes followed his receding back, the other pair fixated on a tongue, inches away from the surface of a sock.

"Wally!" Robin exclaimed, snatching the sock away from his friend's tongue. Once he got a closer look at it, he wished he hadn't.

"Wha?" Wally asked, his tongue still stuck out. "I had oo tetht it to thee if it wath on the vird of decompothting."

Robin just raised an eyebrow, pretending that he couldn't understand what the speedster had said. It was rather disturbing that he could. The other two heroes looked equally dumbfounded.

"Ugh!" Wally exclaimed, ripping his sock out of Robin's hand and shoving it in his pocket. "You guyth jutht don't un'erthtand."

"Um, I'm going to go make cookies." M'gann announced, floating back towards the kitchen. Kaldur trailed after her, sending a glance back at his two teammates.

"I will go help her." And then Fish-boy was gone as well.

"So," Robin said, turning back to face Wally. "Spontaneous decomposition. Best theory you could come up with."

"I was in the heat of the moment!" The speedster protested. "I was really stressing out, my tongue was getting all swollen, my throat was dry-"

"Sounds like allergies." Robin smirked, amused at Wally's exasperation.

"_You_ would know, wouldn't you." Wally shot back, digging his sock out of his pocket as he sped over to the couch and plopped down, yanking his foot up to replace the missing article or clothing.

Robin _humphed_ in annoyance, flipping over the back of the couch to sit next to his friend. But not too close, considering his sock was still exposed to the world. That boy had the worst smelling feet Robin had ever smelt. Not that he went around smelling feet or anything.

"So why's this sock so important?" Robin asked as Wally pulled on the item in question, quickly shoving his shoe over it and lacing it up at superspeed.

"Specially designed." Wally explained, shooting to his feet and running a few circles around the couch. "To cope with my superspeed and all. Normal socks burn up at the high speeds me and the Flash run, so Uncle Barry designed 'speedster socks' to cope with that."

Robin nodded in understanding (Barry would come up with something like that), jumping up from the couch and watching Wally's circles for a moment before sticking his foot in his friend's path, successfully tripping the speedster and sending him flying across the room. The Boy Wonder cackled as Wally sat up and rubbed his head.

"Dude!" He exclaimed, glaring at the younger boy. He looked ready to pounce on the acrobat when an enticing aroma drifted in from the kitchen. The speedster was on his feet in seconds, shooting off towards the scent, his prey, forgotten. Robin rolled his eyes, following the boy into the kitchen.

Mount Justice, formally the Headquarters of the Justice League until its secrecy was compromised, was huge and had all the necessities of a permanent residence, as it was for M'gann and Superboy. The kitchen was just off of the sitting room, which was home to a giant flat screen TV, and bedrooms were just down the hall from it. The main training area was right in from the zeta beam entrance and was equipped with all the highest tech and served as mission briefing as well. There was also a room towards the back of the mountain with weights, treadmills, rings, a few targets, and high bars along with a room housing a giant pool right off the back exit.

When Robin walked into the kitchen, his nose was assaulted with an enticing aroma of golden brown cookies. I looked, or smelled, like M'gann was actually a pretty good cook, as long as she remembered she was cooking. Wally was already shoveling six of the cookies down his throat at once while M'gann giggled, already sticking another tray of raw cookie dough in the oven.

"Mff, Rob, dese are good." The speedster mumbled around the cookies in his mouth. "Goo' zyob Me'a, you ah ge'ing re'wy goo' a dis."

M'gann giggled again. "Thanks, I think."

"Wally, stop being gross." Robin chided, smacking the back of his head.

"Me'abowism."

"Metabolism?" Robin asked and Wally nodded. "Not really an excuse."

The red-head just glared at him.

"Robin, do you want a cookie?" M'gann asked, hovering slightly as she waited for the next batch to be done.

"Nah, I'm not really hungry," Robin answered. "Thanks though."

"Hey!" Wally exclaimed, nearly knocking the remaining cookies to the floor. "We have our first training session today! With Black Canary." He got all dreamy eyed at the end and Robin knew the speedster thought their teacher was hot.

"Oo!" M'gann squealed. "I can't wait! I've never trained with a team before. Well, I've never been on a team before…."

"Yeah, should be great." Robin agreed, actually excited at the prospect of training with the team. Compared to Batman's training, it would be a breeze. At least endurance wise. When it came to hand to hand combat, Robin could fight forever, unless someone got him down, and Robin knew that Kaldur was a particularly skilled fighter, and Superboy had already beaten him once. The fights here wouldn't be as physically demanding as the ones he had with Batman, but that was only because his opponent would actually take him down if they got the chance, whereas Batman kept him up and fighting for as long as possible.

"Yo, Rob," Wally said, waving a hand in front of his face. "Kal says Black Canary's here. Get changed?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, let's go."

oOo

Artemis officially hated monkeys. Especially robot monkeys. The things wouldn't leave her alone and she'd run practically halfway across Gotham! She shot another arrow at one's head that was about to jump down from a roof onto her head and then spun around, knocking another two away with the end of her bow. They went flying, smashing into a wall and shattering, only to be replaced by four others. Where were they coming from? They were like the Hydra! Whoever they belonged to was lined up to get a piece of Artemis' mind if they ever showed themselves.

Artemis took off running again as five leaped at her at once, grabbing onto her hair and trying to force her face first into a wall. She whipped them off and dashed down the street, glad it was dark out now as a teenage girl running from robot monkeys would be certain to attract police. Not that Artemis was worried about police or anything. They'd never be able to trace her to her father, right? Besides, she was a hero now, fighting crime; they'd never suspect a thing…. But it was better to be safe than sorry.

A fence loomed up into Artemis' view and she knew immediately where she was: Gotham Academy, school of the richest brats in Gotham. Without a second thought Artemis leaped onto the fence and climbed over it as fast as possible, dropping to the ground on the other side, bow drawn and arrow ready. This would be the perfect spot to pick off the monkeys from.

A robot head appeared and Artemis let an arrow fly; it hit its mark dead on with another already on the bow. Two more monkeys appeared an Artemis sent an explosive arrow at one, the resulting explosion knocking away the other. Three more monkeys took their place and Artemis shot them in quick succession, only to have four on their tale. She sent two more explosive arrows at them, smirking when she heard the clang of their parts hitting the concrete below and then was forced to stab one with the end of her bow that had somehow managed to sneak up on her. Two more faces appeared over the fence, but they quickly disappeared, perhaps seeing they were the only two left.

Artemis breathed a sigh of relief, only to be interrupted by a smashing sound accompanied by shouting and the sound of explosions coming from the large brick building behind her. She spun around, just in time to see a boy smash through ceiling of the building, followed by a giant, shirtless man. A very ripped, giant, shirtless man, Artemis noted. A large hole was now visible in the roof of Gotham Academy through which yells and shattering sounds could be heard. More robot monkeys were now pouring into the hole, followed by a rather eccentric looking man suspended in the air by two of the robotic freaks. Okay, this merited an investigation.

Keeping her bow close to her body, Artemis sprinted across the courtyard to a window and peered in. At first all she saw was a trashed display case, the trophies strewn across the floor among the shattered glass, but then she noticed a dark shape moving at the far end of the hallway. She watched as the shaped got closer, crouching in the shadows and seemingly glancing about itself as it moved. Then a yellow blur flashed across Artemis' vision and she nearly shrieked as a yellow and red clad boy smashed into the dark shape, knocking both to the ground. The sickeningly bright boy got up first, shooting to his feet at inhuman speed and reached down and yanked up the smaller figure which Artemis now saw to be none other than Wonder Boy.

Said boy was now silently berating the speedy boy, waving his hands around in a dramatic manner. The yellow and red boy, who also happened to have flaming red hair, was rubbing the back of his neck, looking sheepish until Robin stopped yelling at him, at which point he ruffled the smaller boy's hair before shooting off around the corner almost faster than Artemis' eyes could follow. So, he was a speedster. Robin's shoulders seemed to slump at what appeared to be a sigh, before turned and disappeared into the shadow again.

Artemis stood at the window, thoughts running through her mind almost as fast as the speedy boy, the most foremost being why Wonder Boy was working with what appeared to be other sidekicks. The archer didn't know why this got her so much, but it seemed strange and gave her an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. Of course she'd known there were other kid heroes out there, but she had no idea they all knew each other, much less worked together. And worked together without any apparent adult help. This idea appealed to Artemis in a way she really didn't think it would. She didn't want to work with other sidekicks; she was fine by herself, even if she really didn't do much. A team would just slow her down and they'd probably expect her to be nice to them.

Another smashing sound was heard, followed by a rather guttural yell and clapping. Artemis shot out of her reverie and without a second thought, smashed open the window she was standing at with her combat boot and hoisted herself through, though not without cutting her exposed stomach on the edge of the glass still attached to the window sill. Once she was through, she quickly glanced down at the wound, hoping it wasn't too bad. It didn't hurt too much and wasn't bleeding a ton, so it wasn't too deep; she'd tend to it later. She yanked an arrow out of her quiver and nocked it, pointing her bow at the ground as she took off running down the hallway that speedy boy disappeared down. Whatever was going on screamed 'bad news' and that was practically Artemis' middle name.

Following the sound of explosions and screaming heroes, the archer found herself at a door leading into a large gym in which an all-out battle was taking place. The giant, shirtless, insanely muscular man, which Artemis now saw was wearing green pants and acting rather robotish, was busy tossing another insanely muscular, though not quite as much as the robot man, boy into the bleachers where the eccentric-looking man sat cheering with some robot monkeys. The speedy boy and Robin were both on the opposite side of the gym, across from Artemis, picking themselves up off the floor, looking rather dazed.

Artemis watched as the three sidekick boys battled the robot man, each going down harder than the previous as Green Pants chucked them around like ragdolls. Robin was attempting to throw batarangs at the creature, but whenever one got close to him, he'd mutter something like: "Access: Martian Manhunter" and go all intangible on them. The hulk-boy was throwing punches left and right at Green Pants but they didn't seem to faze him one bit; in fact, when he muttered "Access: Superman" he sent a punch back at the boy, causing him to go flying again. As she watched, Green Pants continued muttering "Access: Fill-in-the-blank-with-a-super-heroes-name" and apparently gaining the powers of the superhero of his choice. So basically, the sidekicks were doomed.

Artemis leaned back against the door behind her and played her options through her head. She could run away, pretend this never happened, and perhaps pick up an espresso on the way home, cause man was she beat, or stay and get her butt kicked by a shirtless robot alongside Team Hero-Wannabe. It was practically a no brainer until Green Pants started hugging Speedy Boy to death. As much as Artemis wished that the other boys would be able to handle it, Robin's words from the other night still rang in her head: _"Heroes….. Our job is to save people, got it?" _It looked like that espresso would have to wait.

Artemis stepped out from her hiding place and yanked her bow up, aiming at the robot man's head, and slowly pulled back the string until it rested next her mouth. She sighted down the shaft and let the arrow fly. The aim was true and the arrow shot straight at the monsters head. Artemis crossed her fingers, hoping that Green Pants wouldn't access Superman for invulnerability. Her wish came true as the robot in question muttered "Access: Martian Manhunter" at the sight of the arrow, and went intangible again, the arrow soaring harmlessly through his head and Speedy Boy sliding through his virtually non-existent arms.

Artemis allowed herself a smirk at her own genius, but quickly shrank back into the shadows as Robin's masked eyes narrowed at the arrow that had landed only feet away from him. _Crap_, she thought, collapsing her bow and stowing it away before slipping out the door of the gym. She really didn't want to explain to Wonder Boy why she was helping his little team, because she could only imagine what he would then suggest.

oOo

"You could join us!" Came the overly eager voice.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I have better things to do than run around with teenagers in tights."

At this, the small shoulders slumped and an annoyed looked cross the usually smirking face. Geez, Artemis had noticed how young and _small _Wonder Boy was.

"That's hardly fair." He argued, putting his gloved hands on his hips. "You're a teenager. Or else an old lady with a facelift fetish." He muttered under his breath. "And none of us wear tights. Superboy wears cargo pants; Miss Martian's clothes are organic so probably wouldn't be classified as tights; Aqualad, well, I dunno what he wears, but I'm pretty sure tights don't have fins on them; and Kid Flash… he wears a full body suit."

"So like, fully body tights?"

Robin looked pensive for a moment. "Yeah," he finally conceded. "But he's the only one."

"Oh, so what do you call those things you're wearing?" She asked, unable to help herself.

"Leggings." Robin growled, seemingly prepared for this question, as if it was asked a lot. "Enforced with Kevlar. _Not_ tights."

"Mmhmm? Whatever you say, Sherlock."

He looked like he was going to argue, but then thought better of it.

"Well, I'll see you around." Artemis said, turning around and shooting a grappling arrow through the hole 'Superboy' had made in the ceiling. She didn't really want to take her chance with the window again. Now that the adrenaline rush was over, her stomach was starting to hurt. A hot shower would really feel nice right then.

After her little intervention on behalf of the Teen Tight-Wearers, as she so fondly nicknamed Robin's team, the archer had hurried out as fast as possible, but obviously not fast enough. Robin had caught up to her as she wandered the hallways, having very little clue where she'd come in since she'd paid little to no attention to the path she'd taken on her wild dash. He'd put on a rather feigned expression of shock and promptly asked her what she was doing, evenly though she could tell from his smug attitude he knew she was helping him. He'd then come up with the apparently brilliant idea that she join his team. Um, no.

"Hey, Assassin Girl, wait up!"

"No thanks." Artemis shouted down from the roof, scowling at his nickname for her. She was about to take off running when a hand grabbed her arm.

"Not this again." She groaned, trying to shake off Robin's grip. That kid was strong for such a little guy.

"Come on, Artemis." He pleaded, his face softening into an almost puppy-dog-look. It would have been cute if he wasn't wearing his domino mask, but as it was, it was borderline creepy little kid. Or creepier little kid, in his case.

"How many times do I have to say 'no'. Don't answer that." She added, seeing as he looked like he was calculating a number.

"Why not? Join the team I mean."

"I already told you why."

"And I already told you: none of us wear tights!" As if that solved it. "I could talk to Batman and-"

"Never mention talking to Batman if you ever want to convince someone to do anything." Artemis advised, shuddering inwardly at the thought of the masked vigilante. She wasn't scared of him, of course not, but he wasn't someone she wanted to cross paths with. Ever.

"-And he could hook you up with Green Arrow," Robin continued, ignoring her comment. "He's an archer too, though you probably knew that. He could train you, and you could join our team and-"

"My answer hasn't changed, and never will." She growled, yanking her arm out of his grip and stalking across the roof, ready to yank her bow out and send an arrow through his brain if tried to follow her.

"A team, Artemis," his voice carried across the roof. Wrong thing to say, Wonder Boy. She'd had enough of teams. "You wouldn't have to fight alone. It would be like a new start." Great, he was better at this than she thought.

She stopped walking, freezing against her will as the words '_a new start'_ rang through her head. How did he know? How did he know what she wanted? What she was desperately searching, _fighting_, for? Some part of her wanted desperately to turn around and rush back, beg to join the team, beg to be trained by this Green Arrow person, beg for a new start. That, of course, was the irrational and always-ignored part of her brain. The more logical, reasonable side wanted to go and beat the daylights out of the kid for breaking through her so easily. As it was, neither side really got its way.

"Think about it?" Robin asked, not having made any move to follow her, for which she was glad.

"Fine; whatever." She mumbled, staring down at her boots.

"Great!" Was the last thing she heard before a creepy cackle echoed across the roof and the Boy Wonder was gone.

oOo

Robin leant over and rubbed his sore leg as he limped through the hallways of his school. The team was waiting for him at the bioship, having cleaned up as best they could while their hacker had disappeared on 'Batman business', claiming he'd be back shortly. It was 'Batman business', technically. The Dark Knight had been doing quite a bit of research on Assassin Girl and had talked to Green Arrow about her a few times as well. Robin smirked to himself, impatient to get back to Mount Justice and tell his mentor about his encounter with said girl and hopefully convince him to let her join the team. Cause he wasn't about to let her have a choice in the matter.

"Robin?"

Robin froze, recognizing the voice instantly. He spun around, wincing slightly as his bruised leg protested the sudden movement.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, putting as much authority into his voice as he could. Despite being only thirteen, nearly all of Gotham's citizens respected him, if not looked up to him. One of the perks of being a hero.

"Um, I was practicing. I'm on the gymnastics team here. I heard the commotion from the fight and was wondering what happened."

Robin sighed, his eyes running over the bright red hair and blue eyes. He had to hand it to her: she was pretty brave to stay in the school with all that had been going on. Brave and stupid.

"It was a fight, nothing more." He told her, trying his best to act like she was just another civilian girl, not his best friend. Who didn't even know she was talking to _her_ best friend. Dual identities suck.

"Is everything alright?"

"Fine. Everything's fine." He assured her. "But you should leave. It's really late and the streets aren't safe at this time." It was true. Gotham was bad at night. Well, it was bad during the day too, but even worse at night. Robin couldn't help but wonder why Barbara was out so late. He knew she was dedicated to her gymnastics, but why would her dad let her stay out so late? Couldn't she just come during the day sometime?

"Okay." She agreed, shrugging her gym back higher up on her shoulder.

"Do you have a ride home?" He asked before he could help himself.

"Yeah, my dad's outside waiting."

Robin nodded, narrowing his eyes as she scanned his face, almost as if searching for something, or someone, in his features. He crossed his arms, trying to give her subtle body language for 'leave'. She apparently got the hint because she gave Robin one last look over before turning and walking towards the exit. After she'd exited the building, Robin limped over to the window and looked out, watching her cross the courtyard before disappearing into the shadows of the street, her dad's car nowhere in sight.

oOo

At mission debriefing Robin quickly accused Green Arrow of following them, using Artemis' arrow as proof. It was a sign to Batman that he'd encountered Assassin Girl again and wanted to talk later on. Of course the rest of the team (mostly Wally) then quickly jumped to the conclusion that it was Speedy's arrow and Robin had to resist the urge the face palm. And beg for it to be true. He really missed Roy; even though they'd always fought, it had been playful banter and Roy was like some kind of messed up, misplaced older brother who no one really understood and everyone wanted out of the house as soon as possible. But then missed as soon as he was gone.

Once the rest of the team had dispersed, Batman motioned his protégé into another room where Green Arrow was waiting.

"So, you met Artemis again." Batman stated.

"Yeah, she saved KF from becoming a Speedster Pancake."

"So it was her arrow." Green Arrow mused, stroking his beard. Robin fought hard not to laugh at the stereotypical 'pensive old man' move. Instead he simply nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

"Did you talk to her?" The Dark Knight asked, giving Robin the look that meant, 'laugh, and you will be cleaning the Batmobile for a month'.

"Yeah," Robin managed to get out while keeping a straight face. "I asked her to join the Team. Told her you would talk to GA about taking her as a protégé."

"And?"

"Well, she kinda blew me off." Robin admitted, watching Green Arrow's face fall. Looks like he was missing Roy too. "But I followed her and I think I hit a nerve and got her to consider it." Maybe.

Green Arrow brightened at this and looked over to Batman.

"Good." The Dark Knight said, unemotional as always. "I have managed to trace her civilian identity; she lives in Gotham with her mother. Green Arrow and I will talk to her mother this week, and then to both of them soon after."

Green Arrow nodded, looking like he was trying to conceal his excitement. It looked like him and Artemis were polar opposites.

"Can I come?" Robin asked, thinking perhaps she'd be more comfortable if she knew someone. Not that he really thought she'd be afraid of Green Arrow, or even Batman, but he was Batman and he_ was_ intimidating.

"No."

"Why not? I know her!"

"Barely."

"Better than you do!"

"This is not up for discussion, Robin. Head back to the cave; I need to talk with Green Arrow and then I will join you. Good job tonight." He added, almost as an afterthought.

Robin silently fumed. He would have exploded at his mentor if Green Arrow had been there, but as it was, he spun on his heel, wincing again at his bruised leg, and stalked off to the zeta beam.

"_Recognized: Robin B-01." _

* * *

><p>AN: Okay, so i have a very sad/emotional chapter lined up for 9, so be excited - i almost cried while writing it!

Please review and tell me how i did, run a commentary on your favorite scenes, make predictions, whatever you want, just review! Thank you!

Alex out._  
><em>


	8. Masked Men and Who They Work For

**A/N: **New chapter!

Thanks so much to: **READINGhearts17 (haha, he will explode, don't worry! Just not yet. But when he does it will be bad.), c0pypa5ted3lete (Your reviews are so amazing! i love reading them so much! Honestly, quite often they are what inspire me to write!), FudoTwin17 (you review like every chapter! It's awesome!), anon, Lakeshine, and Anonymous!**

Disclaimer: I remembered! I don't own Young Justice.

* * *

><p>"Well?" A whiny voice demanded.<p>

"Penguin failed to retrieve the subject, sir."

Grumbling.

"Sir?"

More grumbling.

"Um, sir?"

"What?"

"Well, um, I just-"

"Who'd you send out this time?"

"Um, no one sir-"

"Why not?"

"Well, I was just wondering if you wanted to switch tactics, because, you know, this isn't exactly worki-"

"No, I do not. The boy's in Gotham, is he not? It's not like he's hard to find."

"Well, no sir, but-"

"Then why hasn't someone caught him yet?"

"Well sir, he's hard to catch. The Batman is always protecting him and-"

"Get him when he's not with the Batman then."

"You see sir, when he's not with the Batman, he's with the other sidekicks."

"Then get him when he's not Robin."

"But sir, we don't know who he is when he isn't Robin."

"Then find out! Must I really do everything for you?"

"Of course sir."

"I must do everything for you?"

"N-no, no of course not."

"Then why did you say 'of course'?"

"I was saying 'of course' I'll find out who he is when he isn't Robin, sir."

"Then why are you still here? Go!"

"Y-yes, sir."

oOo

Dick Grayson was bored. It wasn't a normal occurrence in the thirteen-year-old's life, for which he was grateful, but today was one of the unfortunate occurrences. Batman was out with Green Arrow talking to Artemis Crock, as he'd learned her real name was (seriously, Artemis and Artemis?), and despite all of Robin's pleading, he still wasn't permitted to accompany them. So he was stuck at the manor, homework long finished, waiting on Alfred to finish cooking dinner and Batman to come back so they could head out on patrol. He could, of course, go out patrolling by himself, but some sort of sixth 'Batman' sense told him that his mentor wouldn't be too enthusiastic about the idea.

Honestly, Dick couldn't understand why the man was acting this way. He was being way more overprotective than usual and it was starting to get on Dick's nerves. So far it had just been subtle things, like demanding that he stay back and keep lookout in a certain fight that he'd normally be allowed to fight in, or that he return from patrol early on some nights, but Dick could only assume that it would escalate. No doubt this behavior had something to do with the kidnapping attempts, but that didn't make it any less odd. Dick and Robin had both been kidnapped multiple times and while Batman had been overprotective for a little while, it had quickly faded. This showed no signs of letting up. The Dark Knight even seemed to be doubting the Team and his protégé ability to work out of the safety of the Bat's wing.

_This better end soon_, Dick growled to himself, pacing his bedroom. He had nothing better to do, really. He could train, of course, but wasn't really in the mood, for some reason he couldn't quite place. Normally with such free time, Dick would have called Barbara and meet up with her somewhere, but she was visiting her mom in Chicago, so that wasn't an option. He couldn't help thinking how pathetic it sounded that he really only had one friend he'd ever really hang out with. Sure, Wally knew his secret identity, but Bruce didn't know he knew, so hanging out with him, while Bruce was around, was just asking for trouble.

"Master Richard, supper is ready. Master Bruce just arrived and will not appreciate dawdling." Alfred's voice carried through the intercom in Dick's room, slightly crackly, but unmistakably Alfred. The intercom system was installed into the mansion some forty or fifty years ago for the very purpose of calling the inhabitants to dinner, and Alfred still used it whenever he wanted to contact either Dick or Bruce in more remote corners of the grand estate. Dick personally thought them to be rather outdated, and he couldn't see why cell phones couldn't be used, or at least a newer intercom system installed, but Alfred claimed that the old ones worked fine and Bruce didn't really care.

"Coming Alfred," Dick called, pointing his face towards the black square piece of plastic mounted on his wall, before gathering up his finished homework from his bed and shoving it in his backpack. He quickly threw his shoes in his closet and folded his school uniform on top of his bed and then cleared off his desk of junk before finally setting his backpack by the door; Alfred was very particular about his room remaining clean. He then slammed the door shut – Alfred was rather nosy and despite Dick's best efforts would probably find something out of place, but he wouldn't look if the door was shut – then ran down the steps two at a time before skidding to a halt outside the dining room. Man, he had a lot of energy that needed burning off. Patrol, patrol….

"- yes please, Alfred, thank you – hello Dick, homework finished?"

Dick rolled his eyes at Bruce's obvious lack of faith in his wards study skills before answering:

"Yeah, about an hour ago."

"Good." Was the only response he received. Typical Bruce.

They sat down for dinner – Filet Mignon with some sort of Potato Gratin and a type of sauce that Dick couldn't name, despite his three years of French education – and it soon fell, naturally, upon Dick to promote any small talk at the table besides business. Though conversation at the dinner table had improved since Dick arrived at Wayne manor, neither the butler nor the billionaire were very experienced in the art (Alfred probably was, but Bruce was anything but helpful in a discussion and it was usually required that the other participant do most the talking, continuously) and it would get quiet real quickly if Dick didn't keep a near monologue going. Once Bruce and Alfred had reached a low point in their discussion on the updates being made to the Wayne Tech building, which didn't take long (though Dick was in the opinion that it had been at a low point from the start) the acrobat threw out a question that he'd been waiting for Bruce's return to ask.

"So, how'd the meeting with Assassin Girl go?"

"The meeting with _Artemis_ went fine." Bruce answered, heaping some more of the unknown sauce onto his plate. "Her mother was actually quite enthusiastic about her getting some training and supervision in the crime fighting field. She'd apparently been on the wrong side of the law while her mother was in jail and Paula Crock was pleased with her conversion."

"By 'on the wrong side of the law' you mean working with Sportsmaster, right?" Dick asked, pushing his own sauce around on his place, feeling little inclination to eat it. It was a weird pale yellow-y-orange color with green specks. Like puke, which was gross.

Dick looked up, noticing Bruce hadn't answered.

"Right?" He asked again.

Again Bruce didn't answer.

"Fine then. I know the answer anyway – I fought her after all."

"Then why'd you ask?"

Dick huffed, shoveling some more filet into his mouth and digging around for another question he could ask about Artemis.

"So, she joining the Team?"

"If Green Arrow sees fit."

"Why wouldn't he?"

"Whatever his reasons would be." Yep, Bruce was a very hard person to carry on a conversation with.

Once dinner was nearly over and Alfred was beginning to clear away plates Bruce stood and stretched before turning and heading in the direction of the Batcave.

"Patrol?" Dick asked, setting down his silverware and making to get up, leaving his unfinished puke sauce on his plate.

"Yes, suit up."

Dick shot to his feet and was almost out of the room before Alfred's voice brought him back.

"Master Richard, come finish your béarnaise sauce."

Oh, béarnaise sauce. That was made of butter and stuff, not puke. He should've eaten it with the Filet.

oOo

Robin scowled to himself as he shot his grappler at the roof and let it pull him away from the now-tied-up thugs in the alley. A robbery. That was all he'd gotten all night. A common robbery. That was good right? It meant Gotham was finally cleaning up its act, right? Wrong. It only meant that Robin was patrolling in the cleanest, newest, least crime ridden parts of Gotham, much to his infuriation. It meant that Batman had again sent Robin away while he dealt with the real threats – alone. Tonight it was the Joker. Apparently he'd been seen terrorizing some victims in the Narrows near the bridges leading to Arkham Asylum. While Robin was frustrated at his treatment, he could almost understand Batman's reasoning – almost, but not quite.

Sure the Joker was one of the worst and, while they were rare occurrences, his terrorization streaks were brutal, Robin had gone up against the Joker before, a year or so back, and it hadn't turned out too bad. In fact, he and Batman had managed to send him to Arkham Asylum…. where he only remained for a few months, but that was Arkham securities fault and beside the point. Of course they'd both suffered injuries, a few broken bones and numerous bruises, but that was to be expected with the Joker. Besides, Robin was older than he'd been then, and had progressed farther in his training, so really there was no reason for Robin not to go and help Batman. It wasn't like the Joker would be working with Cadmus, or whoever these people really were. He was an insane psychopath, not a mercenary villain so to speak. Batman was just being paranoid, Robin decided, unreasonably so.

The boy flew around a corner on his grappler, barely avoiding a nasty collision with a brick wall, and scanned the quiet, sleeping streets of Gotham. As his gaze fell over a row of apartment complexes Robin caught sight of a very familiar long tail of blonde hair through one of the windows. So, that's where she lived. This would be fun.

The Boy Wonder landed lightly on the balcony outside the window, immediately blending into the shadows. He peeked around the corner and watched as Artemis strapped on her quiver and picked up her bow from its place on her bed. She was dressed in her black ninja-like suit as Robin couldn't help but think of it as, and she was just pulling on the half face ski-mask-like head piece. The acrobat slowly snuck around the corner, smirking as he saw that her window was open, and quietly slipped into her room when her back was turned. He crouched down in the shadows of her dresser, waiting for her to turn around.

Her room was small, but had two beds, which he couldn't help but think was rather odd, and above the other bed, the one that Artemis didn't appear to be using, was an Alice in Wonderland poster. Other than the poster, the room was bare of decoration and had only a small desk on the opposite wall of the window and a small dresser between the beds.

"Aaaaah!"

Robin jerked upright at Artemis' screech, nearly hitting his head on the window sill.

"What are you doing in my room?" She asked in a much quieter, yet just as angry, voice.

"Stalking." Sure, why not.

"Ugh! Get out!" She yanked him up by the collar of his cape and marched him over to the window, attempting to shove him over the sill. He let himself get shoved forward, but caught himself on the edge of the window with his hands and kicked his legs up into a hand stand, looking upside down at the angry girl in front of him.

"Freaking little Peter Pan impersonator." She muttered.

"You really like the fairy tales, don't you?" Robin asked.

"Move over."

"Going on a little crime fighting joyride, are we?" He smirked, shaking some hair out of his face that had gotten caught on his mask.

"How is it a joyride? I'm not stealing anything to do it." The archer argued, slinging her bow over her shoulder and crossing her arms, obviously waiting for Robin to move. He didn't, only replied:

"My city."

"Huh?"

"You're stealing my city."

"_Your_ city? How is Gotham _your_ city?"

"Well, Batman's city, but same difference."

Artemis raised an eyebrow before shoving him to the side and stepping out the window onto the balcony. Robin let himself get shoved and turned it into a flip which landed him in Artemis' path on the balcony. Yeah, he was showing off. He smirked at her, his hands on his hips.

"Can't you just leave me alone and go do your hero stuff somewhere else?" She asked, turning around the other way before reaching for a grappling arrow.

"You forget: this is my – er, Batman's city, so anyone interested in doing any vigilante-hero work has to receive express permission from either the Bat or myself." Robin said, stepping around the archer until he was in front of her again.

"Since when?"

"Since always," he replied, stepping back in forth to stay in her path as she tried to move around him. Honestly, he felt like he was dancing with her. "Cause if you don't, Bats'll come looking for you."

"Big deal; he's already visited my house, thanks to _someone_."

Robin gave her a cheeky smile before asking: "So, does this mean you're joining my team?"

"Do I really have a choice?"

"No need to sound so enthusiastic."

Artemis sighed, looking annoyed at the fact that she was unable to get off her balcony because of Robin. _Well, she could use her grappling arrow and get onto her roof_, Robin thought, _but maybe she know I'll just cut it before she even gets off the ground_. Seriously, she needed to get stronger line. Hopefully Green Arrow would take care of that.

"Are you going to let me go, or am I going to have to make you?" She growled, pulling her bow off her back and replacing her grappling arrow with a different, more dangerous looking one.

"I already went over this," Robin grumbled, hand straying to his own belt. "Batman's city. And Robin's." He added. Couldn't leave any arguing points open. "'Sides, why do you want to go out so bad anyway? Tomorrow, or the next day, or someday soon, GA will come and take you patrolling in Star City. Can't you just wait till then?"

Artemis looked like she was going to yell at him, or attack him, or something violent-like, until she suddenly deflated and lowered her bow, stashing her arrow.

"Listen, er, Robin," she began, obviously uncomfortable with the fact that she actually called Robin by his real name. It _was_ a rare occurrence for her. "I just wanted to get out, get a little practice in so hopefully Green Arrow won't thing I'm…. I dunno…. Not worth it." She finished quietly, looking down at the bow in her hand.

"So, you do wanna be Green Arrow's protégé after all." Robin prodded.

"Why do I even tell you these things?" The archer grumbled, leaning against the balcony railing in defeat.

"Cause I'm just so charming, you can't resist pouring out your very heart and soul to me." Robin stated, jumping up and sitting on the railing, balanced rather precariously over a considerable drop. Artemis' apartment was on the fifth floor. He watched the older girl, studying her. She'd make a great addition to the Team, no doubt; even if they hadn't been in desperate need of an archer, they needed someone with her personality. Or at least someone else who understood 'Earth culture' as M'gann called it, so he and Kid Flash weren't stuck cracking jokes at each other. It got old real fast.

"Are you just going to watch me all night?" Artemis snapped. "Cause if so, you might be here awhile: I'm not going to bed anytime soon."

"Nope," Robin grinned, leaping off the railing. "I'm gonna teach you how to be on a team – Robin style."

Hey, what's the worst that could happen?

oOo

For a while, it seemed, the worst wasn't too bad. Robin dragged Artemis through the Gotham night, both of them handling a couple robberies, one drug deal and a harassment that looked like it was about to dissolve into something nastier, but was stopped in time. The worst through all that was that Robin had gotten smacked upside the head by woman whom they were saving from harassment – she had started wildly swinging her purse around once the two heroes showed up and Robin's head had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was an accident, of course, but Artemis found it hilarious and hadn't stopped laughing for nearly ten minutes straight.

After that incident it had been quiet for nearly an hour – Robin claimed it was because everyone had thought that Artemis' laughter was the Joker's so they took off – and the acrobat knew that it was getting close to the time to call it a night. Batman would radio him soon and tell him to head back to the cave and the Dark Knight would either join him – if he'd either caught the Joker or lost him (the latter more likely) or the he would stay out until one of the two happened. Either way, Robin considered it a productive night on his part (at least considerably less boring than it would have been with the absence of the archer) as he'd successfully, in his opinion, taught Artemis how to be on a team. More accurately, his team.

"You said there's a Martian?" Artemis asked after Robin explained to her about her new teammates. "And an Atlantian?"

"Yep," Robin grinned, swinging his legs back and forth over the edge of the roof upon which the two teenagers were now perched. "And a kryptonian clone. But don't call him a clone."

"Riiight," Artemis said, looking rather doubtful. "So are there any other humans?"

"There's Kid Flash, who's a speedster, but not an alien." Robin replied.

"Any other non-meta-humans?"

"Nope, just me and you!"

"Great."

"You don't sound too whelmed."

"What is with you and this 'whelmed' thing? What does it even mean? Never mind, don't answer that." She added quickly, probably seeing that Robin was about to launch into a long, overly detailed explanation on prefixes and suffixes. Her loss.

"Seriously Artemis," Robin continued. "It'll be great. 'Sides, I-" He cut off.

"What?"

"Shh." He whispered, eyes narrowing behind his mask. He'd heard something. His gaze traveled to a nearby warehouse where he could just make out the small glow of a light from one of the grimy windows.

"What?" Artemis asked again, much quieter.

"Heard something." Was all Robin replied. What he'd heard…. Was it really what it sounded like?

"Come on." He whispered, beckoning her to follow him. The Boy Wonder shot a grappler across to an adjacent roof and leapt off the roof they were on, letting the line carry him near silently to the ground. He heard the tell-tale sounds of Artemis following him. He crouched low and snuck quietly up to the warehouse, trying to find a window low enough for him to look in as they were all well above his head. Like a lot of things were.

"What are we doing?" Artemis hissed, coming up beside the boy.

"Investigating," Was all Robin said before launching himself quietly into the air below a window and grabbing the ledge with his gloved hands, using it pull himself up. He perched on the window ledge and peered into the gloom of the warehouse.

It was a rather cliché, typical abandoned warehouse, what with the dusty windows, crates stacked against the walls, single light bulb and visible electrical wiring. And to add to the cliché, in the middle of the room were three wooden chairs with wires and rope attached to their slats. In the chairs were three blindfolded men, one in each chair mind you, strapped to their pieces of furniture with leather and ropes. In front of one of the men, for they were all facing different directions, were three masked figures, each holding a gun and one holding a remote-like device. The man with the remote was talking, and loudly, his voice echoing around the room.

"I'll ask you again: who is Robin? What's his real name?" The voice held a twinge of impatience, and a ton of anger, but neither made Robin's heart stop more than what it had said.

"I already told you!" One man shrieked. "I don't know! No one does!"

"Liar." The masked figure growled, hitting a button on his remote. Robin knew what was going to happen before it did. As electricity traveled through the three chairs, the men screamed in pain, one even begging for mercy. The sight was too much and Robin had to look away. Sure, people had tried to figure out the Dynamic Duo's secret identity before, but it didn't help dull the pain of when others were tortured for the information. Artemis was looking up at the acrobat and Robin could see question in her eyes.

"What're they doing in there?" She asked, standing below Robin's perch, obviously having heard the masked man's question.

"Electric chair. Low voltage though. Not enough to kill." Yet.

"What do we do?"

"We go in." He replied, flipping gracefully to the ground beside the archer. "But we go cautiously. No full-out assault, alright? We stay to the shadows and take out their weapons first."

Artemis nodded.

"Oh, and we don't kill, got it?" He added, as a precaution. She _was_ Assassin Girl after all.

"Yeah, I know. I understand. Batman already went over that with me." She replied, in a voice that held something akin to self-disappointment.

"Okay," he began, getting his leader mode on, as Kid Flash called it. "There's two doors that I saw: one front, one back. You take the back, I'll take the front. Get in, preferably during the screaming, we don't know how oiled the doors are." Weird way to put it, yes. "And keep to the shadows. Don't move till I give you the signal."

"Which is?"

"Um, I'll throw a batarang and disarm the head masked guy."

"What?"

"There're three masked guys and three guys tied to electric chairs. The masked guys have guns. I'll disarm the head one. You'll know who he is when you get in there." Normally Robin would want Artemis to be able to see the situation instead of charging in blindly, but there really wasn't time.

"Got it?" He asked.

"Yeah, got it."

Without another word Robin disappeared into shadows heading for the front door. Or at least he assumed it was front. Really, it could have been the back too. Or the side. But that was beside the point. He waited by the door, listening as Maskey Number One asked 'one more time' who he was, and as the pleas of 'we don't know, we don't know' were followed by agonized screams. As soon as the screaming started, Robin carefully pushed open the door – it was thankfully only slightly squeaky and had obviously been opened recently, probably by the masked men – and slipped inside, immediately blending into the shadows.

He glanced across the room at Artemis, and, seeing her inside and hidden as well, pulled out two batarangs and snuck around for a better shot. He waited for three minutes as Maskey Number One questioned the captives again before finally raising his gun, a small revolver, as Robin knew he would once he was denied the information one to many times. He was the biggest of the three masked figures, and obviously male, the others smaller. One looked like a woman while the other was scrawnier and possibly a teenager or young man.

"Tell me or I'll shoot ya." Boss Maskey (he seemed like the boss) growled, stepping closer.

Whether his threat would have been followed through with or not, Robin would never know, for at that moment he sent a batarang flying at the weapon, knocking the gun out of the man's hand and sending it skidding across the warehouse's cement floor with a clatter. An arrow followed almost immediately, knocking the remote from his other hand.

"It's the Bat!" Skinny Maskey shrieked, dropping his own gun and putting his hands over his head. Why did they always assume it was Batman? Sure, it was a _bat_arang but Robin used batarangs too. Robin sighed; obviously he needed to work on his popularity among Gotham's crime world.

He let out a cackle, throwing his voice so it echoed all around the warehouse as he shot a grappler at the ceiling and soared over the Maskey's heads.

"It's not the Bat," the woman, for the voice was very feminine, said, raising her own gun. "It's just his sidekick."

"Partner," Robin corrected, swinging back and dropping down on her shoulders. Was that so hard to remember? He used her shoulders as a springboard to launch a flying kick at Skinny Maskey's face. He went down hard.

"Get the kid!" Boss Maskey yelled, dropping to the floor and scrambling for his gun. "Boss'll pay big for him."

Ms. Maskey started firing at Robin, causing him to dodge and weave the flying bullets as Artemis rushed out from the shadows, swiftly kicking Boss Maskey in the face as he tried to stand up with his newly retrieved gun.

"Nice!" Robin called, pausing in his wild dance to watch the archer.

"Yeah, thanks, but watch the bullets!" Artemis yelled, engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the only partially stunned head masked man. Robin watched her for a minute, still dodging bullets: she was good, especially for a long range fighter, but of course Robin already knew that; he'd fought her after all.

"Hold still kid!" Ms. Maskey growled, now firing her downed partners gun.

"Yeah, sure." Robin agreed, coming to a halt. His hand went behind his cape, grasping a batarang as Ms Maskey turned to face him, gun raised.

"Finally," she grumbled, taking aim. Robin watched as she pulled the trigger… only to pull on air, her gun skidding away into the shadows, thanks to his batarang. Man, did he love pulling that trick – her face was priceless.

"You-" she started, about to launch into a very profanity laced, carry-on sentence, no doubt, when an arrow landed at her feet and exploded, releasing a dark grey smoke. Robin held his breath, even though he was probably a far enough distance for it not to affect him. When the smoke cleared, the woman was out cold.

"Nice!" Robin shouted, again. He'd have to come up with some other word of praise to use.

"Mmf." Artemis grunted, delivering one last kick to Boss Maskey's head as he dropped to the floor, if not unconscious then too stunned to move.

After checking to make sure that both Ms. Maskey and Skinny Maskey were down for the count, Robin ran over to the three captives, hands flying to untie their bonds. They were all shaking, though thankfully conscious and obviously suffering from shock and fear. The young vigilante yanked off the blindfolds before unbuckling the wire-laced leather straps and cutting through the ropes with a batarang. Once they were all freed, he ran a brief medical test over them with his limited knowledge, finding that two were suffering from mild concussions and one from chloroform exposure. They all showed signs of electrical shock, though it was mild enough that it most likely did not cause any nerve or brain damage.

"Robin!" One of the cried once he was free of his blindfold.

"Robin? What's he doing here?" The one to his left demanded.

"Freeing you," the acrobat replied.

"It's your fault we're trapped." The second said.

Artemis walked over, her bow in hand. "Oh shut up." She commanded, crouching next to Robin as he ran his medical tests. "It's not his fault, it's these, um, creeps fault." Good word choice, Assassin Girl.

"They wanted us 'cause of him." The same one argued again, flinching away when Robin went to examine him.

"Well he just saved you, so a little gratitude might be in order." Artemis grumbled, standing up and glaring at him. He glared back, though with less force than the archer.

"Artemis, is the last guy down?" Robin asked, his medical exam complete.

"Yeah, he might be still conscious, but he isn't getting up anytime soon."

"Good. We need to call an ambulance, get these guys to a hospital to be treated for electrical shock. Hey, any of you have a phone?" So far, none of the men had made any move to get up, which was probably wise, as they'd probably just collapse as soon as they did.

"Here," one of them said, handing Robin his phone. He was dressed in a business suit and his hair showed signs of having been previously neatly combed back. "I, uh, never thought to use. Guess I was too out of it." He mumbled, looking ashamed.

"No biggy. Totally understandable." Robin replied, taking the phone and punching in 911. He let the receptionist answer it, only replying "This is Robin. Warehouse, downtown Gotham, three men suffering from electrical shocks received from three masked criminals, all of whom are restrained" to the question of "Gotham City 911, where's your emergency". He then handed the phone back to its owner and beckoned Artemis stand next to him.

"Alright," he began, facing the men, already well-versed in how to handle the next step. "I know you probably don't want to relive what just happened, but I need to know exactly what took place from the time you were kidnapped till now. You can make it brief if you want." He added. He watched their reactions closely: they all seemed surprisingly calm compared to most victims Robin had met, though it might have been only a front they put, but a welcome front none the less. The young vigilante could see that they were visibly shaking, and their eyes all held fear.

"W-well," one began – the one who'd first greeted the Boy Wonder. "I was heading home from the office, it was late, mind you, and dark and I prefer to walk to and from my office so I was on foot, when something hit me from behind on the back of my head. I woke up here, tied to this chair with these two, when a voice started questioning me about your identity, Robin. Of course, I didn't know and I don't think either of these two know either, so I told them that, that I didn't know, and suddenly I felt this shocking feeling that got worse and worse and I started screaming and they kept doing it and doing it and asking me over and over again and wouldn't stop and I didn't know…." The man started hyperventilating towards the end so Robin left and moved to the one on his right, the one who'd given him the phone.

"Is your story the same?" He asked, already entering the other man's information into his gauntlet computer.

"Yes. Except I was drugged. With chloroform I think."

"What about you?" Artemis asked the man who'd previously accused Robin.

"Yeah, same."

Robin nodded, quickly typing in details about the location and the warehouse and scanning the men's appearances into his hard drive. It quickly came up with all their information; relationships, place of birth, names, and various other personal details which, if Robin were them, he would really hate to be at the fingertips of a thirteen-year-old superhero. The beauty of being Robin.

"Did any of you hear any information about why they wanted my identity?" Robin asked, closing his gauntlet computer and moving over to secure the three masks.

"Yeah," the man who Artemis had yelled at said. "Something about caddice. It was before I was fully awake, but they said something about their boss wanting the information cause caddice would pay a lot for it. Dunno what 'caddice' is though."

"It's a coarse woolen fabric, yarn, or ribbon binding." Phone Guy whispered. "It's also a type of worm." Okay, probably not what they meant.

"Cadmus?" Robin asked, walking around to face the man. "Did they say 'Cadmus'?"

"Yeah, sure. Like I said, I was still pretty out of it."

Robin sent a look at Artemis who narrowed her eyes and sent a look back that clearly said 'I want to know what this Cadmus is and will get you to tell me'. She wished.

"Alright," Robin said, turning back to the once-captives. "The police are coming; they will handle all legal and medical matters. Don't try to get up until they get here or you'll regret it." He then motioned to Artemis to follow him a ways away before he started talking to her in a hushed tone. "I'll enter the Maskey's info into my computer then we'll leave. I'll send Batman a message and he'll take care of interrogating these guys." Robin didn't mind interrogating criminals too much, but he knew Batman was far better at it than him and the Dark Knight would want to do it anyway.

"Won't the police get here first?" Artemis asked, fingering her bow.

"Yeah, but Bats and the Commish are pretty close. He'll get first swing at the Maskeys." Robin then proceeded to yank the masks off the unconscious criminals and scan their faces into his gauntlet computer (the names and faces were unfamiliar to both Robin and Artemis). Once he was finished, he motioned for Artemis to follow him and they both slipped out of the warehouse just as the sounds of police sirens could be heard in the distance. They both took off running into the night, grappling onto a roof once they were a considerable distance away (yet close enough that they could still observe the scene below).

"Alright, Boy Wonder," Artemis began, turning on Robin with her hands on her hips. "This is the second time I've been with you, (the fact that I've even been with you two times is bad enough) that the name Cadmus has come up and someone's tried to kidnap you. Explanation please?"

"It's just an organization that, uh, has something against Batman and I." Robin began, struggling to find an explanation that wouldn't lead to investigating on Assassin Girl's part. "So, they want to kidnap me to punish Batman. Happens often enough."

"Mhm?" Artemis hummed, an eyebrow raised. "You're a terrible liar." Yes, he was aware of the fact. "Do you not trust me enough, or what?"

"Yep, totally trust you. It's a common thing with me to trust people who've tried to kill me." It was a joke, and he did trust her, to some extent, but Batman was Batman, so to her, Robin was a closed book.

"I saved you, remember?" Artemis asked.

"Is that like your greatest achievement or something?"

"Grow up."

Robin laughed, pulling out his communicator and sending a call to Batman.

"Well, I'd say it's time to head back." Robin told her, waiting for Batman to pick up. "Seems like we've kicked enough butt for one night."

"Yeah…." Artemis sighed, suddenly looking rather downcast. Downcast, really….

"Woah, woah, woah," Robin laughed, seeing her face. "Does this mean that you actually enjoyed this?"

"Yeah, I enjoyed _this_, but not _you_, if that's what you're getting at."

"Well, you'll getta do _this _a lot more once you join the Team." _Come on Batman, pick up._

"Mhm." She didn't look convinced.

"You'll like the Team," Robin assured her. "And they'll like you. It'll all work out."

"Yeah, okay, I'm glad your world works like that." She replied, pulling out a grappling arrow and shooting it off into the night. "Well, I'll, uh, see you around."

"Yep. Later." And on that cheerful note, Assassin Girl was gone.

"_Batman_." Came the deep, gravelly voice in Robin's ear.

"Hey, Bats." Robin greeted his mentor, his finger on his communicator. "I found three masked, uh, people interrogating three victims for my identity. Said they worked for Cadmus, or at least their boss does. Commish has them now."

"_I found traces of the same occurrence. I'll head down to the police station and interrogate them. Were there any clues as to who they worked for?"_

"None that I could find. Nothing trademark about them and I've never seen or heard of them before." They were probably common criminals who found a job with some slightly richer common criminal who decided to join the 'Cadmus Club'.

Robin could hear Batman grunt at this. "_You should head home_."

"Kay, got it. Robin out." Of course he'd be sent home. He knew that. So why did it bother him so much?

oOo

"Alfred?"

"_Yes, Master Bruce?"_

"I've received a tip that Ra's al Ghul may or may not be involved with the Cadmus Case."

"_Ra's al Ghul? Oh dear, this doesn't bode well."_

"No, Alfred, it doesn't. I also have reason to believe Bane may be involved as well. I was interrogating some criminals who'd been after Robin's identity and by the information I gathered about their boss, he's been associated with Bane and al Ghul as well as Cadmus - all within the last month."

"_A highly unlikely coincidence, sir."_

"Exactly my thoughts, Alfred. I'm returning to the Batcave to do more research on this. Has Robin arrived yet?"

"_Yes, sir, he pulled in about fifteen minutes ago. Are you going to tell him about this?"_

"I don't know, Alfred. He's already got a lot to worry about."

"_I know sir, but this Cadmus Case is really getting to him. As is the fact that you've been leaving him out of so much." _

"It's for his own safety. I need to solve this case and I don't want his life jeopardized in the process. I'll make it up to him."

"_I hope so, Master Bruce, for your own sake."_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Woah, did i just hint at something? And is Ra's al Ghul in this now? And Bane? And the Joker? Oh the Joker, I can't wait till we get to his part. I think you'll all like it! _  
><em>

Next chapter is sad, so bring tissues! (If you cry a lot, if you don't, then you're lucky). Thanks so much for reading and please review! It means so much and i know that people are reading this and liking it! You can tell me what i'm doing wrong, what you like, comment on your favorite parts, make predictions, beg for certain things to happen (I might just honor your request) or demand Robin to break out in random Romany one day! Your choice, just review! Thank you!

_Alex out.  
><em>


	9. 240,000 Miles From Happiness

**A/N: **Chapter 9!

Thanks so much to:

**mixxi: **Glad you are!

**XxNeonShadowsxX: **Wow, chills? I'm honored! Thanks for the review and I'm glad I made you laugh!

**Nightingale: **Haha, don't worry, that's my favorite line so he'll definitely say it!

**CHiKa-RoXy: **Wow, reviewing every chapter! Love it! Thanks so much! I love your reviews so much! Yes, I know it may seem rather slow if you're waiting for a certain thing to happen, but I know where I'm going, so just hang on! You are an awesome reviewer by the way! Thanks so much!

**ShadowCatAlex: **Thanks so much for the awesome review!

**Fragile as a Feather: **I'm so glad you think so! Thank you so much! And I'm impressed!

**Anonymous: **Well, now you get to find out!

**Lakeshine: **Yes, yay for Joker!

**FudoTwin17: **What makes you think he will get kidnapped? (*evil laugh*) Maybe he'll die first! Kidding... probably.

**REBD: **Thanks so much!

Thanks for all the reviews! I have 61! Wow, blown away! (Oh, and do you all like it when I thank reviewers in authors note? Or not?)

Here's chapter 9:

* * *

><p>Dick Grayson stared at the text on his phone.<p>

'_Hey, u wanna hang out the mall soon? W/me?'_

The sender was Wally West, the number was 417-555-1516.[**1**] Sure, Dick would love to hang out with Wally anytime, anywhere, but there was the matter of secret identities and the fact that Dick wasn't supposed to have told Wally his. Maybe some time when Bruce was away; this was happening more and more often recently. League missions, Wayne Tech meetings, over-seas business trips, more League missions, patrols which Dick wasn't allowed on – the list went on. Bruce was currently gone on another League mission at the moment, but would be back either later that night or the next day. It was already past seven, though, and would be too late for him and Wally to meet that day, besides the fact that Bruce could return any minute.

Bruce had been keeping a closer eye on him than ever before, what with the identity thing and all. After interrogating the Maskeys, Batman had found that they did, indeed, claim that their boss was working for something called Cadmus, but that was all they knew. Like usual. Artemis, now a member of the Team, though less liked by a certain speedster than Robin would have hoped, was still grilling him for information on Cadmus and through that, they'd grown to be friends. It was odd, to say the least. Nothing like a couple near death experiences to bring two people closer together, not to mention one of the those experiences resulting from fighting each other.

The rest of the Team didn't get along with the archer as well as the young vigilante did. Kid Flash especially. Those two hated each other from the beginning, which only got Robin caught in the middle. Not that it mattered much to him. If his two friends hated each other, then they could deal with that problem themselves. Artemis' first mission hadn't been a great start, but Robin knew that they had been fighting her sister so it was to be expected. It hadn't left the greatest impression on the Team, but they'd accepted her none the less, though Wally had done so rather grudgingly.

Dick rolled back onto his back on his bed, staring at the ceiling as he heard his remaining summer homework crinkle under his back. He only had one more day of summer school and then he'd have almost three weeks off until school started officially. Wow, three weeks of summer as compared to nearly three months. Why was his life so hard?

"Master Richard." Alfred's voice crackled through intercom. "Miss Barbara's on the phone – she wishes to talk with you." Barbara? Hmm. "She's sounds very distraught."

"Kay, Alfie, be right down." Barbara, calling him, on the main phone, sounding distraught?

Dick rolled off the bed onto his feet and headed for the stairs, walking down them briskly and taking the phone from Alfred who was waiting at the bottom. He put the phone to his ear, letting his "Hello?" travel through the mouthpiece. He heard what sounded like gasping, or possibly sobbing, on the other end before a muffled sounding: _"Hi, Dick"_ carried to his ear.

"Barbara," Dick exclaimed, walking over and sitting on the bottom step of the marble staircase. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"_Y-yes."_ Came a gasp, followed by a near-silent sobs.

"W-what happened?" Dick nearly shouted, half-rising from his sitting position, his left hand, the one not holding the phone, clenching into a fist.

"_I-it's not like that."_ It was whispered, barely audible.

Dick sat down again, relaxing slighting as he realized no one had_ physically_ hurt Barbara. "Something bad happened, didn't it Babs?" He asked, careful to keep his voice gentle. Another sob, this one sounding like it meant 'yes'.

"Something happened to someone you care about?" He asked, knowing he was treading on careful ground.

"_Y-yes. My m-m-mom. Sh-she died." _

Dick nearly dropped the phone. Barbara's mom had…died? He felt his breath catch, his heart beat quicken. Not this, not again… not Barbara… he was Robin now… not again… not again….

"_I-it… there was a car… the man, h-he hit her…. D-Dick, she's gone… I-I don't kn-kn-know what to do…" _Sobbing, desperate gasps. _"M-my dad… he won't… he just… I-I don't understand w-what… D-Dick I-" _Tears, heartbroken tears. _"I c-called you b-because I thought… I thought y-you wou-would underst-stand. D-Dick, p-please, I-I-"_

Dick shook himself out of stupor. "Barbara, I-I'm so sorry. I- do you wanna come over? To talk about it, or to just-"

"_Y-yes." _

"Okay, uh," Dick glanced up at Alfred and the butler nodded, turning and heading for the entranceway. "Alfred'll pick you up in like fifteen minutes, okay?"

More sniffling, a mumbled _"Okay"_ and then: _"Th-thank you." _

"Yeah, of course. I'll uh, see you in a half an hour then." Sniffles. "Hey, you'll be okay, alright? Just hang on, okay?"

"_Okay." _

"Good. I'm gonna hang up now, okay? Alfred'll be right there."

"_Okay." _

Dick took the phone away from his ear and ended the call. He was in shock, his body unresponsive as he tried to get up. Barbara's mom was dead… dead. Just like – no, don't think about that, not now. Dick slowly stood up, setting the phone on the step as he slowly climbed the stairs, not really paying attention to where he was going. He knew he needed to get his act together, for Barbara, but for some reason, he just couldn't. It was her mom, why was he taking it so hard? He'd never even met her mom. But Barbara had always talked about her, her and Barbara's brother in Chicago…. Maybe this was just hitting too close to home for him.

When Dick looked up, he found himself in his room again. He slowly shuffled over to his bed, sitting down on the edge and staring at the wall above his desk, his eyes wandering over the smooth, white walls, over the picture of himself holding a giant golden trophy (he hadn't really wanted that picture in his room, but Alfred had insisted), finally coming to rest on the largest adornment: and old circus poster. The title was _The Flying Graysons _and there was a picture of a family of six, all dressed in identical uniforms, flying through the air with the night sky above them and a circus tent below them.

It was an old poster, one probably nearly impossible to find now, and was slightly worn around the edges, but that hardly mattered. He'd received the poster shortly after the 'incident', he refused to call an accident, from one of the performers at the circus. He hadn't paid much attention to who it had been at the time – he'd been too busy crying in a corner, trying not to be noticed – but whoever it was, he was eternally grateful to that person. He'd kept the poster by his bed once he'd been moved to the Juvenile Detention Center and then transferred it to a spot next to his new bed once he'd moved into Wayne Manor.

Over the years, the fact that the family was flying _above_ the circus tent had come to mean so much to him. To him it meant that the Flying Graysons were so much more than a circus act and that they did fly, and still flew, higher than any circus tent could ever be. It meant that he, Dick Grayson, wasn't defined by the circus, that it was only a part of his life - that _he_ now flew so much higher than the circus ever was. The circus would always remain a part of his life, but only as a memory.

Looking at the poster now, with Barbara in mind, he remembered clearly the pain of losing it all. The heartache he felt after it finally sunk in that his family was _gone_, forever gone from the earth. The complete shattering he'd felt when they'd fallen, when he'd heard them crunch on the ground, when he'd looked upon his mother and father in death, their bodies distorted in ways that even acrobats couldn't. It had been almost too much, too much for him. At that moment he'd wanted to fall too, to join his family in death, so he wouldn't have to be alone. He'd nearly shattered so utterly completely that there was no hope of ever picking up the pieces, of ever being whole again.

But he'd managed to move on. He'd managed to gather up the pieces, with help, and rebuild himself. Sure, it wasn't as perfect as before, and there were cracks and lines and a few gaping holes that hadn't been there before, but those were what defined him. Those were what made him _himself_. In time, some of the holes had filled up slightly and only chinks remained, but those chinks defined him too. He hadn't understood why – he still didn't understand why, and maybe he never would, but every day he was seeing that maybe, maybe, because of what had happened, he'd be able to change something, to change someone, to save someone. Maybe, because of what happened, he'd be able to save Barbara in the same way Bruce had saved him. Maybe, just maybe, there was a reason, somewhere. A reason that he'd had to lose everything, to fall apart so completely only to have to put himself back together again. Maybe, just maybe, he'd been put back together better than he'd been before. Maybe, only now, cracks, lines and all, was he capable of doing what he was doing. Maybe, just maybe, there was a reason.

But maybe there didn't have to be.

Dick sighed, hands between his legs as he stared at his old life, hanging on the wall. Barbara would be there soon and she'd need Dick together, in one piece, to help her pick up her own pieces. He had to hold himself together for her. He stood up, sending one last glance at his past, before running a hand through his hair and walking slowly to his door, pausing at the doorway to compose himself before leaving, shutting the door softly behind him. He was in one piece - or much of one piece as he could ever be with pieces of himself missing. Chinks in his armor that were missing….

He heard Alfred open the door and the sound of an umbrella closing, heard quiet sniffling and a "Thank you" as he made his way down the stairs once more, careful to move slow and gentle, cause this wasn't a fast, happy time. He watched as Barbara looked up at him, tears glistening in her shining eyes and he moved to her, his heart aching in time with hers. When he reached her, he drew her into a hug, letting her rest her head on his shoulder as he quietly whispered:

"I'm so sorry, Barbara."

They stayed like that for an immeasurable amount of time, Dick's face buried in Barbara's hair as she cried softly, her tears falling onto his sweatshirt hood. His hands gripped her back tightly, showing her that he was there for her, that he understood what she was feeling. Her arms were around his neck, her face on his shoulder. They just stood, neither saying a word as time passed around them. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Barbara pulled away and turned her head, wiping at her eyes with her jacket sleeve. She sniffled and attempted a smile, her eyes were red and tear tracks painted her cheeks. Dick gave her a soft smile in return.

"Come on, let's go to my room. Alfred might even bring us cookies."

Barbara nodded and Dick took her hand and gently pulled her up the stairs, keeping his eyes kind. Once they reached his room, he brought her over to his bed and sat down beside her, his eyes never leaving her face. They sat like that for a long time, Barbara's eyes wandering around his room as the boy watched her, never saying a word. Then the redhead's eyes came to rest on his poster and she smiled slightly, her gaze drifting over the six figures, focusing finally on the smallest one.

"H-how did you do it?" Her voice was soft, so unlike her usual brave, upfront tone. "H-how did you keep going?"

"For a while, I didn't." He answered honestly, remembering his first couple months following the tragedy.

"Y-you lost them all. All your family. I only… only my m-…. only her, and I feel like I-I lost everything. Everything, Dick Grayson."

Dick watched her, his heart heavy.

"I- I'd just gone to visit her." Barbara began again, tears slowly coursing their way down her face again. "You remember me telling you, right?" Dick nodded. "I'd just seen her, we-we'd just talked, and- and she'd t-taken me sh-shopping. She bought me a purple dress and a h-hair clip. It was sh-shaped like a butterfly and it h-had purple wings." Barbara smiled through the tears at the memory. "I'd put it on as soon as we'd checked out, be-because it'd matched my shirt. She-she said I…. She said that I looked beautiful. I laughed and th-thanked her and then we'd gone out to eat. When I l-left I never thought that would be the l-last time I'd ever s-see her. I gave her a hug and said good-bye, but then I'd just left. I'd just left, Dick. Only a hug and I'd left." Here Barbara burst into tears again, bringing her knees up to her chest as she cried, memories no doubt playing on repeat through her brain.

"A-and now – now she's gone." Barbara sobbed. "Gone, Dick, gone. Gone forever. I'll never see her again. Not n-next month, when we're o-off school for t-teacher co-conference. N-not over Th-thanksgiving or Christmas. Not ever."

Dick reached out and put a hand on her knee, catching her eyes when she looked up. He held her gaze as he said:

"Babs, I- I'm not going to tell you that it's okay, cause it's obviously not. I'm not going to tell you that it will get better, cause, even though it will, right now it still hurts. I'm not going to tell you not to cry, to move on, to be brave, cause that's stupid, right? All- all I want you to know, is that- that you're not alone, okay? That this is your sorrow, and no one can share it, but I'm not gonna leave alone. I-I don't understand how you feel, but I'll stand with you, okay?"

Barbara nodded and uncurled herself from her ball, and Dick reached over and pulled her into another hug. When they'd broken apart, Barbara was wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand.

"Th-thank you… Dick."

Dick nodded. Barbara smiled at him, brushing a piece of hair out of her face. He smiled back. He let her be, not saying anything, knowing there was nothing he could say. She had to figure things out for herself. Finally, she spoke again.

"I just, I f-feel b-broken." She mumbled. "Like nothing's th-the same. L-like…."

"Like what?" Dick asked, pulling his knees up to his chest.

"L-like the world _shouldn't_ go on. I-I see people acting s-so_ normal _and it d-doesn't seem right. The w-world shouldn't b-be the same, a-anymore."

Dick nodded, knowing the feeling. After his family had died, it had felt like the sky had fallen, or like the world had been destroyed, and yet he'd gone outside and the sky was still there, the world was still whole. It had made him angry, that things were still the same, like his family had meant so little to world that it didn't even notice they were gone. He just couldn't understand how everything still looked the _same_ after all that had happened. How the world had the nerve to keep on going, to keep on moving forward, when Dick's world was so obviously destroyed, unable to even move at all.

"D-Dick, I- I want to give up, sometimes…." Barbara whispered, clutching at her own legs.

"_I_ don't want you to give up." Dick told her, grabbing her hand and holding it for emphasize. "' _Never give in... never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force... never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.'"_

"W-William Churchill." Barbara smiled. "Have I ever told you how amazing of a friend you are, Dick Grayson?"

"Yeah, but you can tell me again." Dick smirked, stretching out on the bed, staring up at her, glad she was smiling again.

"Master Richard." Alfred called, the bedroom door opening. "The cookies you requested have arrived."

Dick jumped off the bed, speeding over to the door and taking the tray from the butler who now stood in the doorway.

"Thanks, Alfred!"

"Of course, Master Richard." He said, nodding at Barbara before exiting the room, gently closing the door behind him.

Dick carefully carried the tray that held a plate of cookies and two glasses of milk over to the bed, setting it down on the red and black comforter in between himself and Barbara. He immediately shoved a cookie in his mouth, watching as Barbara did the same, her features far less distraught than they'd been before. They ate in silence for a few minutes, Barbara's eyes wandering around his room with a far off, distant look in them while Dick watched her, slowly eating another cookie. Suddenly, an idea struck him.

"Hey, Babs," He called, jumping off the bed again and walking over to his window. He quickly unlatched it and pushed it open, the gentle of sound of night rain drifting into the bedroom. "Wanna go outside?"

"It's raining." Barbara announced slowly, also getting off the bed.

"I've never know you to be one to be bothered by a little rain." Dick grinned at her, climbing up onto the sill. Barbara smiled and followed him, Dick grabbing her hand and helping her out onto the rain-soaked roof. It was well past eight and the night was pitch black, but far in the distance, beyond the clouds, Dick could catch glimpses of stars. They both sat down, ignoring the fact that they were both already nearly soaked to the bone – august rain was warm enough. Dick lay back, staring up at the sky, rain falling steadily on his face and getting in his eyes and mouth.

"There's no moon tonight." Barbara observed, laying back also.

"How do you know it's not just covered by the clouds?" Dick asked, knowing that she was right, that there wasn't a moon tonight.

"I'm pretty sure it's new moon, meaning there isn't one, and I'm pretty sure you know that." Barbara said, giving him a light shove in the shoulder. He smirked at her, words already coming out of his mouth.

"Did you know the distance between the earth and the moon fluctuates between 225,622miles and 252,087 miles?"

"No, and I don't really care." Barbara laughed, bringing her hands up behind her head.

"Why not?" Dick asked, his smile growing mischievous.

"Because I don't."

"I think you should, though."

"Why? It's not like my life depends on knowing the distance between the earth and the moon."

"How do you know? What if does? What if you're kidnapped by a crazy astrologer who will kill you if you can't tell him the distance between the earth and the moon? Then what? Then you'll be sorry you never cared."

Barbara laughed, shaking rain off her face. "Yeah, because it's common to get captured by crazy astrologers."

Dick could tell she was trying desperately to hold it together. "You never know. I mean, there are thousands of possible scenarios where your life depends on knowing the distance between the earth and the moon. For example: what if some secret organization of supervillain scientists were planning to launch a giant bomb at earth and the launching took place on the moon. Some other scientists, working with the citizens of earth to save the planet created some sort of weapon that could neutralize the bomb, but only right before it was launched, because it was only then that they could locate its position.

"So, the scenario: everyone here on earth is waiting for the bomb to be launched and they have people manning the weapon so it could be called into action at the precise moment. But, alas! The enemies have unearthed the plot and sent in spies to take out the weapon. The spies take down everyone around the weapon, let's call it the Bomb Neutralizer 3000, BN3 for short, but are unable to locate the BN3 itself. They leave, assuming that since no one is manning the station, no one will be able to activate the BN3. But little did they know, Barbara Gordon, freshman at Gotham Academy, was walking home from school when she saw all that take place. Now Miss Gordon, seeing the spies sneak off looking suspicious, and hence, being the kind, compassionate student she is, snuck into the BN3 Launch Station, to make that everyone was alright. Upon entering, she saw all the scientists passed out around the BN3! And the alert was blinking on the large screen in front of her: 'Bomb launch in twenty-five seconds'!

"Miss Gordon, an avid news watcher, knew all about the BN3, cause of course the scientists couldn't resist bragging about it on every station that interviewed them, so she quickly made her way over the controls: she had to set off the BN3 or else earth as we know it would be destroyed! She quickly finds that all the controls have been locked in and all that's left for her to do is to hit the 'power' button. She hits the button, only for a screen to pop up asking for….. wait for it…. The distance between the earth and the moon! Oh no! The BN3 won't activate unless the distance it must travel is entered into the computer. But of course, Barbara Gordon, caring so much about this particular question, quickly enters in the answer: x is greater than or equal to 225,622 miles and x is less than or equal to 252,087 miles. The computer, satisfied with the approximation, activates the BN3, successfully neutralizing the bomb with five seconds to spare. The world goes crazy for Barbara Gordon, and, when interviewed on the whole incident, she graciously thanks her best friend Richard Grayson for telling her of the importance of knowing the distance between the earth and the moon."

By the end, Barbara was laughing, rain streaming down her face, and Dick smiled, glad he was able to cheer her up, if only for a moment. She'd have hard days, week, months, years ahead of her, but she'd be okay. He'd be there for her. Someday, she'd be able to start picking up her pieces and putting herself back together and he'd be there to help her. Maybe, she was starting already.

oOo

The funeral service for Barbara Eileen-Gordon was held in Gotham, where her only remaining family lived. Bruce Wayne, in an act of generosity and thanks to Commissioner Gordon, offered to pay the full expenses of the funeral. It was held on August 15th at two o'clock in the afternoon. The preceding ceremony was held at the finest funeral home in Gotham and the burial was in Gotham Cemetery. The guest list was small, but because of the presence of Bruce Wayne (his ward, Dick Grayson, was close friends with the deceased's daughter, Barbara Gordon, and the philanthropist was invited as well, as a 'thank you' for his generosity) the media was present as well. They were, thankfully, chased off before the ceremony started though.

Dick Grayson, dressed in his finest black suit, stood respectfully with his hands behind his back while the priest read the Bible. It was an overcast day, the skies greyish orange with clouds, and rain was on the horizon, but probably wouldn't fall for another couple hours or so. The temperature was cool for August, which was nice when one had to wear a suit for three or four hours at a time, but Dick wouldn't have complained either way. Bruce stood next to him, dressed similarly, his head bowed slightly in respect, his eyes distant as though remembering something.

Barbara stood next to her dad, dressed in a black dress with sleeves that reached her elbows, her red hair falling in her face as tears slowly flowed down her cheeks. She'd just finished giving the eulogy. Various other relatives which Dick hadn't even known existed, and somehow doubted Barbara had known either, stood in dark colors surrounding the open grave with the mahogany coffin, covered in flowers, resting over it, waiting to be lowered into the ground. Today had been the first time Dick had ever seen Barbara's mom, and he wished with all his might she had been alive to see him too.

Dick didn't like funerals, but really, who did? He'd been to very few since his parents and they'd always been for people he'd never met; mostly employees at Wayne Enterprises. This one was different than the other ones he'd been to – it held more meaning and emotion for him as he watched his best friend suffer through what he'd gone through four years ago. It brought back memories, memories that he'd done his best to keep to the back of his mind. Now was not the time to remember his own loss; now was the time to mourn Barbara's. Still, the memories flooded his brain, washing away all else as he remembered the last time he'd stood in this cemetery, dressed in a borrowed suit, rain falling in time to his tears.

He'd been virtually alone, with no family left whatsoever besides his newly comatose uncle. Bruce Wayne, the filthy rich Gotham billionaire, in one of his common acts of generosity, had offered to pay for the trapeze artist's funeral and he was in attendance, along with his butler, but they were the only ones. Besides the social security worker who was out waiting in her car, but she hardly counted. Dick remembered standing in the rain as the pastor recited verses from under a shelter, the coffins resting in the shelter as well, until they would be lowered into the earth. Dick had insisted on staying out in the rain, despite the adult's protests, as perhaps he'd hoped it would wash away his sorrow. Of course, it hadn't worked.

The moment where his parent's bodies had finally been lowered into the grave, the hole, had been the worst moment for, finally, Dick had to accept that his parents were forever gone, buried to the world. It had been almost too much for him, to think about his parents bodies being covered in soggy dirt, and he'd finally dissolved into tears that he'd been working so hard on holding back. Once the final pile of mud had been placed on the grave, Dick had wanted so bad to fall to the ground in front of the headstone and cry for hours.

He hadn't though, and instead thanked Mr. Wayne for all he'd done before walking slowly back to the social worker who would drive him back to the Juvenile Detention center where he'd been staying. That night, though, he'd snuck out and ran across town in the rain until he'd reached the graveyard where he'd promptly collapsed to the ground in front of his family's graves, his long held back tears spilling out. Dick had lied there, curled up in front of the headstone all night long, the rain relentlessly beating down on him while he muttered to his dead parents in Romany, oblivious to the world around him. [**2**]

Now, as Dick stood in front of a new grave, he wondered if Barbara felt the same way. No doubt she did.

"Let us commend Barbara Eileen-Gordon to the mercy of God, our maker and redeemer." The pastor spoke as two men moved to lift the coffin. "Into thy hands, O Father and Lord, we commend her, that you will hold her close to thee and suffer her never to be parted from thee."

The men lifted up the coffin and slowly lowered it into the grave, the pastor continuing with the committal. "We therefore commit her body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in the sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life."

Then a mechanical digger came forward and covered the coffin with dirt until the ground was flat once more. The headstone would be placed later, after the dirt had settled.

Barbara then stepped forward and gently placed a small bouquet of roses on the grave, other relatives doing the same. After all the family had finished, Dick stepped forward and laid a single red rose, for Barbara had said those were her mother's favorite flowers, on the pile as well.

The guests then slowly started to wander off, first stopping by Barbara and mumbling 'sorry's and other words of comfort before getting in their cars and driving to the wake, which would be held at a ballroom rented out for the occasion. Dick waited around until nearly all the guests had left before approaching Barbara. She smiled at him a watery smile and her gave her a hug, no words needed to express how either felt. The broke apart and Dick gave Barbara a smile as her dad waited by their car.

"Hey, I'll see you at the wake, okay?" Dick told her, wanting to visit something quick before he left.

Barbara nodded. "Thank you, Dick, for coming. I know you don't like funerals."

"Wouldn't miss it." And then they parted ways, Dick heading up the hill towards the older graves and Barbara back towards her moms.

The acrobat knew that Bruce wouldn't mind waiting for him for a few minutes. Once he reached the grave, he crouched down in front of the headstone. The words _Mary and John Grayson, 1972-2006 _were forever burned into his brain yet he still stared at them as he laid down a small batch of Tiger Lilies, both his parents' favorite flower.[**3**] He hadn't visited the grave in a while, a fact which he wasn't happy with, but he knew he didn't really have time today to stay. He stared at the headstone for another few minutes, thoughts of parents filling his mind, but he quickly shoved them away as they drew near to _the_ memory. Now wasn't the time.

Dick stood up again and brushed off his pants, even though they never touched the ground, before once again making his way down the hill to where Bruce stood by the car, his phone to his ear and a troubled look on his face. Dick walked up and stood in front of his guardian, waiting for him to finish his call. Once he did, he nodded for Dick to get into the car, climbing into the driver's side himself, they'd convinced Alfred to take a day off, and shut all the doors and windows. Looks like it was Batman business.

"That was Alfred." Bruce announced, starting the car as he addressed his ward. "Apparently he got a tip that there's an assassination attempt against the Commissioner planned for his upcoming speech." Dick was right, Batman business.

"Batman gonna be there?" Dick asked.

Bruce nodded.

"And Robin?"

Now Bruce sighed, looking troubled, and Dick knew that he was trying to avoid looking at him. Not too hard to do, considering he was driving.

"Come on, Bruce!" Dick begged, nearly jumping in his seat. Someone had a lot of energy. And to think, he'd only gotten, like, four hours of sleep last night. _Probably that coffee I stole from Alfred_, he thought, remembering how tired he'd been that morning and how he'd been desperate to be awake for the funeral, even if it meant downing a cup of the bitter, caffeinated liquid. Liquid, cause it really shouldn't be considered a beverage.

"You've been leaving me out of every big mission for the past month!" Dick cried. Okay, it had only been a couple of weeks, but one got the point.

"Hardly," Bruce argued. "But," he cut off Dick's next argument. "Robin will be there, if he sees fit."

"Yes!"

"The speech is on August 19th. Ra's al Ghul is believed to be behind it."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Wow, sad sad sad. Sorry if you didn't like Barbara crying so much, but her mom just died, so yeah.

1. When i was deciding on a number for Wally, I looked up where Central City was in Young Justice (Missouri) and then looked up the area code of Central City, Missouri, and actually found one! Dunno if it's real or what, but I went with it.

2. Dick now speaks Romany in this story.

3. Season 1 of YJ takes place in 2010 and the YJ timeline says that Dick's family died in 2006. I looked up the average age of having your first baby in countries surrounding Romania (couldn't find Romania exactly) and then subtracted nine from 2006 and counted back about twenty-five and picked 1972 for when Dick's parents were born.

4. I looked up popular Gypsy and Romanian flowers and came up with lilies and Tiger Lilies. Or something like that. It was a while ago.

Sorry if you don't like authors notes (I try to avoid long ones) but I wanted you to know where i got all this stuff from so you don't think i'm crazy.

Please review and tell me what you think, tell me your favorite parts, tell me your least favorite parts, do whatever you want! Thank you!

Alex out.


	10. Fata Liliac Începe

**A/N: **Chapter 10!

Wow! I got tons of reviews for the last chapter! Thanks sooo much!

**Guest (Steph): **Thank you so much!

**CHiKa-RoXy: **Well, thank you! And you got that right. A magnet for sure!

**Firefly070995: **Thanks, I'm glad you liked them!

** Dr. CraneSlaysDemons1234: **Thanks! Wow, midnight? Dude, I'm speechless, thanks!

**XxNeonShadowsxX: **Wow, thanks for the amazing review! I'm glad you thought it was good! Thanks so much!

**I. Love. Dick. Grayson: **Thanks for the info and the review! Yeah, I've had different places say different things about the language so I've decided to just go with what you said. Thanks for letting me know.

**Fragile as a Feather: **Wow, thanks sooooo much! That was really touching! I'm so glad you thought it was good. I tried really hard with the emotions cause I knew they were tricky ones. Thanks again!

**ShadowCatAlex: **Glad you like them! I thought I should probably tell where I came up with all this craziness! Thanks for the review!

**Guest: **Wow, thanks! I'm honored, really!

**Ember-Wing12: **Thanks! And read about the language thing below, cause it's complicated. ;)

**Bobby Corwen: **Wow, that was probably the longest review I've ever gotten. Thanks soooo much! Everything you said... Wow, I'm speechless. Thanks soooo much! And I will definitely honor your request.

**Lakeshine: **Glad you liked it! And here's that action you were looking for! Thanks for the review.

Thanks so much for all the reviews! And about the whole Romany/Tamaran thing. I've read differing things about their association with each other, so I deleted the note from the past chapter as I received a review saying they are not the same thing. Seeing as it doesn't pertain to this story, it will not come up again.

Also, I added a bit to the very beginning of the story, if you want to check it out.

Here's the next chapter!

* * *

><p>As Commissioner Gordon made his way up to the platform, the talk of the crowd was on Batman, not on the Commissioner's upcoming speech. The assassination attempt was public information now (though who was behind it was all rumors at that point) and, while many insisted the speech be cancelled, Gordon would not hear of it. The turnout of reporters was nearly three times the average for such events and the most popular subject was whether the Commissioner would make it out alive. The crowd was all abuzz as the event drew nearer and heads were turning left and right, trying to make out a bat-shaped figure among the evening shadows.<p>

Said bat-shaped figure was in the shadows, but through the window of an abandoned apartment building that was set to be demolished later that week. It was unlikely it would happen, though, as activists were, at that very moment, campaigning for it to be left standing and possibly rehabilitated, claiming it was a valuable, original, Pinkney structure. [1]

The bat-shaped figure wasn't the only figure camped out in the shadows the apartment – the figure of a young boy was present as well, the white lenses of his domino mask shining in the darkness, or at least Robin assumed they were. Said boy shifted uncomfortably, unhappy with Batman's choice of a steak-out position, but, since he was even in a steak-out position in the first place, he wasn't about to complain. They'd been crouched in the shadows since the start of the gala at the pavilion across the street – a gala which the Commissioner had attended in honor of his speech.

Nothing had happened at the gala, which the Dynamic Duo had expected as all their research led to the idea that the assassination attempt was to take place during the speech. But of course they still had to camp out for four hours just to make sure. Thinking back to the conversation that had taken place the previous day, Robin still couldn't understand why Ra's al Ghul of all people would be making an assassination attempt on the Commissioner.

"_Why Ra's?" _Robin had asked Batman in the Batcave while Bruce pored over something on the Batcomputer.

"_I mean, why would he make an assassination attempt on the Commissioner? I thought he's more of an extreme environmentalist who believes in saving the world by destroying it."_

"_Something like that, Dick." Bruce answered, not looking up from his work. _

"_Then why would he suddenly change tactics?" _

"_Perhaps he believes he'd be closer to eliminating the population of Gotham if he took down the Commissioner first." _

"_Uh-huh? That's likely." _

_Bruce sighed, standing up and crossing the room to the examination table. "He may have a larger plan at work here." The man told his ward. "The assassination might only be a ruse to distract us from his real plan." _

"_Great." Robin groaned. "Another one of _these _missions."_

"_I thought you were excited to come." _

"_Yeah, excited enough." Robin reached into his pocket, his phone vibrating against his leg. He thought he left that in his room! _

Sender: Wally West

Message: Yo, when u gonna get here? Team wants a mission!

_Robin sighed. Typical Wally. _

Reply: Doing the Dynamic Duo thing. Not coming out 2day.

_Robin put the phone back in his pocket and went over to stand beside his guardian who was once again engaged in the Batcomputer. _

"_You think this has anything to do with the Cadmus Case?" Robin asked, the idea suddenly coming to mind. _

"_I don't know Dick, but we must keep all possibilities open." _

It was then that Robin knew Bruce was hiding something from him.

Robin felt a sharp tap on his shoulder and looked over to see Batman motioning for him to look out the window. When he did, he saw that the Commissioner had made his way up to the platform and preparing to start his speech. Robin glanced at Batman and Batman gave him to the 'spread out, investigate, but keep to the shadows' signal. Yeah, they had some pretty complex signals. Robin nodded and slunk out the door of the room they were in, heading for the back door.

The sky was already dark, the sun nearly set, and a giant spotlight was centered on the platform and the swarms of people present. Robin ducked out the door and found himself in a back alley. He cautiously snuck along the alley, keeping to the shadows as requested, his eyes scanning the darkness for anything suspicious. He soon made it around the building and was able to see the all the assembly from the back. The Commissioner had just started talking, multiple microphones positioned in front of his face.

Robin crept along behind the platform, easily avoiding the armed guards that surrounded it, all the while looking for the tell-tale signs that accompanied an assassination attempt. He saw no obvious scouts as he made his way around the corner of the platform, nor any armed figures in the windows scattered throughout the surrounding buildings. After a thorough sweep of the area, Robin found himself crouched in the shadows of the apartment building, the sun fully set, the Commissioner's speech nearly over, and absolutely no sign of Ra's al Ghul. He was preparing to radio Batman, tell him he'd found nothing, and probably receive the same information in reply, when saw a dark shadow move farther away to his left, looking particularly like his mentor.

Curious, Robin followed it, wondering why Batman would be seemingly avoiding him. Unless he didn't know he was there… but that was hardly like the Bat. He crouched low as he approached the figure, most of it lost in the darkness of the building. As he got closer, he could see the distinct 'ears' on the figures head and the long, jagged cape around its ankles, but Robin could also see that it was smaller than Batman – noticeably so. Honestly, it looked too small for any full-grown man. Judging by the fact that it hadn't yet noticed the young vigilante sneaking up on it, Robin deemed the person wasn't too big a threat and decided it was probably just a kid playing some sort of prank. Easily handled.

Robin let out a cackle, the sound bouncing around the alley as he leaped up onto a window sill above the kid's head. "Hey." He said nonchalantly, surprising the figure so bad it jumped. "What're you doing out here dressed as a bat?"

The figure spun around and Robin could see it was a girl, dressed in what looked like the batsuit, albeit poorly altered to fit the girl's smaller frame, hence causing it to hang off her awkwardly. The cowl she was wearing looked to be made out of an old ski mask, sewn to look like Batman's with ears stuck on top. She had some sort of make-shift utility belt around her waist, with what appeared to be homemade weapons stuck in it as well. And she was wearing high-heeled boots. Overall, the getup made Robin laugh again as he jumped down and stood in front of the girl, who, to his chagrin, was taller than him (and would have still been, even if she hadn't been wearing the ridiculous boots).

"What are you laughing at?" The girl growled, seemingly trying to do a Batman impression and utterly failing.

"You, your costume, your choice of footwear, your 'weapons'…. Care for me to continue?" Robin laughed, stepping up backwards onto a step to help boost his height, authority and ego. Not that he had one or anything.

"What do you want?" The girl demanded, crossing her arms and scowling at him through the eyeholes in the ski mask.

"Shouldn't _I _be asking _you_ that?" Robin asked, a smirk on his face. "Dressing up as Batman when there's an assassination attempt taking place? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"No!" The girl cried indignantly. "I'm not!"

"Then what_ are_ you doing?"

The girl glared at him, her blue eyes flashing. Robin did a double take. Her blue eyes…. He shot a glance at the back of the girls head and saw red hair sticking out of her make-shift cowl. He studied her lithe, yet muscular build beneath the baggy tunic. There was no doubt about it, with the courage she was displaying talking to _the_ Robin: Barbara Gordon.

"I'm trying to protect the Commissioner." Barbara spat out, though with less indignation and a little more defense and possibly more fear than before.

Protecting the Commissioner. Of course Barbara would want to protect her dad, after what happened to her other parent; Robin knew the feeling. No doubt she was out for vengeance as well.

"Don't worry," Robin said, gentler this time. "We got it covered."

"Hardly." Um, come again?

"What, don't trust us? Me and the Bat have been protecting this city for years, we can handle this."

"I don't want to take any chances." Barbara replied, uncrossing her arms, reaching into her belt and pulling out some sort of culinary-looking knife.

"Listen," Robin began, not liking where this was going. "It's dangerous out here. You're young, untrained and will likely get hurt. Go home and leave this to us. We'll protect the Commish, promise."

"Great, and I'll help."

"No, you won't."

"Yes, I will."

"No, you won't."

"Yes, I will."

"No, you-" Robin sighed, fingering his gauntlet computer. Stubborn as stubborn can be. "This isn't a game." He told her, as much seriousness imbued in his voice as he could get. "We're not playing dress up. Go home or I'll have to call the cops."

"Why?" Barbara demanded, knife in hand.

"Wha-?" Robin asked, momentarily taken off-guard.

"Why do_ I_ have to go home and _you_ get to go crusading around Gotham in tights?"

"They're not tights." Robin grumbled. "And I'm trained, I'm prepared, I've been doing this for four years. You: you're alone, unprepared and armed with kitchen knives."

Barbara's scowl deepened and she raised said kitchen knife in what Robin assumed was supposed to be a threatening position. The only that would feel threatened by it would be a lobster. If she was lucky.

"I'm trained!" She argued. "I have years of martial arts experience and I'm training for the Olympics in gymnastics."

"It's not the same thing."

"I train every night, doing exactly what I see you do." So that's what she was doing at Gotham Academy the night of the Amazo mission.

"Okay," Robin told her. "I'll rephrase that: you're not trained by Batman."

"Then I'll get him to train me."

"Good luck with that." Robin laughed as he turned and started walking away, hoping she would just leave and go home. He honestly couldn't understand why Barbara had taken a sudden liking to heroing, or why she seemed so persistent in continuing it. He didn't want her anywhere near any of the stuff he dealt with.

"Fine, if Batman won't train me, I'll just continue training myself." Barbara called, anger back in her voice.

_Maybe I'm not intimidating enough_, Robin thought. He spun back around.

"Go home. Go home now, or you'll regret it." There was anger in his voice – not at her, but what she could do to herself and what others might do to her. "Trust me. Someone will get hurt because of you, and then you'll regret ever dressing in that costume."

This made Barbara freeze, her expression softening and her eyes slowly narrowing in a questioning way.

"I don't want you to make a choice you'll regret." Robin told her. "You will get hurt, in more ways than one. Leave now before you don't have that choice."

Barbara stared at him, lowering her hand and slowly replacing the kitchen knife in her belt. She looked contemplative, but also like she believed him, if only barely. Robin relaxed, glad he'd finally gotten to her. He smirked to himself, proud of powers of intimidation. Or maybe of warning… or something. He snapped to attention as he saw Barbara suddenly go into a defensive stance, her eyes widening. Was she really that scared of him...? Maybe he'd overdone it….

"Robin! Behind you!"

Robin whipped around, only to run head first into a huge, muscled chest. He cried out as a pair of thick arms encircled him, trapping his own arms to his sides. He struggled fruitlessly against the hulk of a man, the man's muscles feeling as hard as steel. He opened his mouth to scream, only to have a cloth shoved in his face, a sickly sweet scent filling his nostrils. Chloroform, crap.

Robin could vaguely hear Barbara screaming in the background and he hoped with all his might that whoever this man was would leave her alone. If only she'd shut up and run…. Robin's struggles grew lesser as his head felt like it was filled with air. Black spots filled his vision and he blinked, desperately trying to get them to go away. He felt his arms and legs go limp, much against his will as the black spots started overtaking his vision, his world finally fading to black, his last thought on whether or not Barbara got away.

oOo

The world was fuzzy, almost as if there was some sort of thin veil in front of his eyes, inhibiting his vision. Maybe he was going blind. Or needed glasses. He hoped not; glasses could get seriously annoying in crime-fighting (there was no way he was _touching_ his eye to put in contacts. The very thought made him shudder) and being blind, well, it would definitely put a damper on things. The world was also pounding in pain, though that could very well have been his head, perhaps signaling his approaching blindness. Perhaps it was head trauma that was causing all this. When did he hit his head?

The world was slowly coming into focus, though it had taken to an annoying habit of swaying back and forth, causing him to feel like he was on a boat. When he did get on a boat? Was he suffering memory loss? Suddenly a large, muscular, shirtless chest encompassed his vision, confusing the boy even more. Was this some sort of stripper boat? His vision got even clearer, the muscles on the chest becoming sharp and defined, the prominent abs making themselves known. This was a really weird boat…

Memories came rushing back like a wave, washing away all doubt from his mind as to what happened. _"Wow," _Robin thought._ "I got captured pretty easily. Babs must've been distracting me, putting me off my game."_

He immediately tried to swivel around, looking for any clue as to whether or not the girl had made it away safely or not, only to find that his arms and legs were bound to a wooden chair. His wrists were stuck through the back slats and his ankles were tied up against the chair legs. His gloves were gone, as was his belt, though his boots were left alone, and thankfully his mask as well, not that his boots would be much help if he couldn't reach them.

The muscular chest must belong to his kidnapper, then. He was certainly strong enough to be the man that had grabbed him. More pain lanced through his already aching head as Robin felt his head get yanked up by his hair, his eyes coming to rest on the face of the hulk-man in front of him.

He was pretty non-descript, with hard features, a long face, and a set jaw, his neck thick and muscular supporting a bald head. His eyes appeared intelligent and he seemed to be sure of what he was doing, despite the apparent absence of orders coming from anywhere. That, of course, brought up the question of why this man would want the Boy Wonder in the first place. Didn't he know he was more trouble than he was worth? Unless he was working with Ra's, though that all seemed highly unlikely as Ra's seemed pretty focused on the assassination…. Which didn't seem to be taking place. Maybe he did work with Ra's after all.

That still didn't explain why he would want Robin though. Unless he was involved in the Cadmus Case, but that didn't really seem like something Ra's would care to be mixed up in. Though assassinating Gotham's Police Commissioner didn't either, unless he somehow thought that his absence would help with the elimination of the population of the world…. But that seemed highly unlikely. Despite what he might think, the Commish didn't really have that much influence over the crime-ridden city. That being said, it seemed that the Demon's Head had been acting odd recently. Maybe kidnapping part of the Dynamic Duo wasn't so far out of the question.

Robin was wrenched from his thoughts by a deep, rough voice cutting through the air.

"The Boy Wonder, isn't that what they call you? Not looking to wonderful right now are we?" The hulk-man laughed a deep, taunting laugh that made Robin want to punch his face in.

Robin glared up at him, his masked eyes narrowing as he tried his best to do an imitation of the batglare.

"Who are you and what do you want?" He hissed, his eyes quickly darting around what appeared to be some sort of abandoned apartment building. It was devoid of furniture expect for the chair upon which Robin sat and a couch covered in a white sheet pushed into the far corner. There was only one window, the glass broken and boards nailed in its place, and a grey door set in the wall farthest from where Robin sat. The whole place was dully painted and had a rather eerie mood to it. Barbara was nowhere to be seen.

"Name's Ubu, kid." Hulk-man growled, releasing Robin's hair allowing him sink back down in his bonds, the chloroform making him feel groggy. "And I don't want anything. My master'll be along shortly, 'e's the one you wanna talk to 'bout that."

"Who's your… master?" Robin asked, gritting his teeth as another shock wave of pain shot through his skull.

"You'll find out soon enough."

"You're not being real helpful, you know."

Ubu chuckled, giving Robin a shove that nearly sent him over onto his side, chair and all.

"I sure hope I'm not."

Robin winced as the chair dropped back to flat, the impact jarring his head – again. Tired of exchanging words, he cut to the chase.

"You work for Ra's al Ghul, don't you?" The boy asked, inconspicuously twisting his hands, trying to free them of their bonds.

"Eh, maybe I do, maybe I don't, what's it to you?"

"What does he want with me?" Robin spat out, finding, to his displeasure, the bonds on his hands were tight and cleverly done.

Ubu ignored him, straightening up and crossing his arms over his chest, scowling slightly down at the Boy Wonder. Robin glared back up at him, trying to move his chest as little as possible as he fought to free his hands. He could feel the skin beginning to rub off, yet he wasn't any closer to breaking free. As a last resort, he could always resort to breaking his thumbs. It would be painful, and not very handy once he was free, but maybe he'd get lucky and could head-butt Hulk-man before he noticed he was free. His head throbbed again, probably arguing against that idea.

Ubu continued to stare at him, perhaps trying to intimidate him with his muscle. It wasn't working. After about five minutes, Robin was bored, his wrists were nearly rubbed raw, and he'd had enough of Ubu's chest for a lifetime. He was beginning to wonder when Batman would finally notice he was missing. Was he still watching for Ra's? One way to find out.

"Hey, Chunky, you just gonna stand there all day? When's Ra's coming?" Not that he was excited to see the eco-terrorist, but it would at least mean that hopefully Batman would be on his tail. When was Batman going to notice his absence anyway? And Bruce had been trying to _protect_ him? Great job he was doing.

"Relax tiny punk, you'll get what's comin' for ya soon enough." Ubu answered him, uncrossing his arms and walking over to stand in front of the boarded over window, peering through the gaps in between the boards.

Robin sighed, relaxing in his bonds, his previous struggling beginning to make his head pound. He glanced down at his feet, wishing for some way that some part of his body would be able to reach his boot. He was finding none whatsoever. Finally, to prevent himself from going crazy, he decided to torment Hulk-man, if only for his own amusement.

"So, you appear to work out a lot." Robin piped up, struggling to sit up straighter in the chair.

Ubu grunted in response, not turning away from the window.

"I work out a lot myself." The boy continued, smirking to himself. "Actually, this whole kidnapping thing is interfering with my workout schedule and you know what they say about missing a workout. I'll lose over a month of progress!" Robin wailed. "I'll fall so far behind I just don't think I can handle it."

He sat there, pretending to wallow in despair for a few moments before bolting upright as best he could, a joyous look coming over his features.

"I know!" He exclaimed. "_You_ can help me! I'll do my routine right here, right now!"

Ubu still stood, apparently ignorant of the show being put on behind him. _Stupid hunk-a muscle, _Robin thought.

"Alright, so, let's warm up first." The boy ordered, putting on an overly cheery voice. "I'll start: okay, so for the equations: 'f' of 'x' equals two 'x' plus two and 'g' of 'x' equals 'x' to the power of two minus four 'x' plus two, determine the exact value or values for which 'f' of 'x' equals 'g' of 'x'. Well, go ahead, answer it."

Ubu grunted (big surprise). "I don't have time to play your games."

"It's not a game," Robin argued (not like he was doing anything anyway). "It's a workout; a brain workout. Get that cerebrum thinking! Hey, did you know the cerebrum makes up eighty-five percent of the brain? And that the average human brain weighs three pounds? It's made up of seventy-five percent water and is two percent of total human body weight."

"I don't care." Ubu growled.

"You should though. Never know when that information could save your life." Robin smiled knowingly, his eyebrows dancing.

"I highly doubt it."

"Oo, suddenly talkative? Maybe you do care. Never know when some strange disease will come along, infecting all the human brains. Scientists will develop a cure, but then fall immobile due to the disease overtaking the 100,000 miles of blood vessels in their brains. You will be the only one left conscious and it will be up to you to administer the cure, but in order for you to properly dose it, you need to know the exact weight and make-up of the brain. Bet you care now, huh?"

"Insolent kid." Ubu growled. "Just shut up and wait for Ra's to get here."

Robin cackled in triumph. Idiot. "You just admitted Ra's is behind this after all. Thanks a bunch, Chunky."

Ubu looked about to respond when he froze, his eyes immediately shooting around the room. Robin perked up too, the miniscule noise traveling to his eardrums. It sounded like scratching, like a lock-pick…. Suddenly the door was kicked down and a huge shadow stood framed in the doorway, the tips of the Bat-cowl visible on the top.

Ubu whirled around, his fists raised in defense, a surprisingly determined and self-confident look on his face. Just as he was about to lunge at the silhouette, a high-heeled boot nailed him in the back of the head sending him toppling forward. High-heeled boot….

The Hulk-man was sent crashing into the floor but he rolled to catch himself, coming up again, already swinging. A black cape swished around behind him and another punch landed itself on Ubu's ear, the force probably setting his ear ringing for a few minutes. The man toppled to the side, landing, unfortunately, on top of Robin, knocking his chair to the side and sending them both to the floor in a heap.

Robin groaned, the weight of the Hulk-man nearly suffocating him. Thankfully he hadn't broken anything – yet. Ubu struggled up, dragging the chair with him, arm wrapped tightly around Robin windpipe. Once he was standing, he was holding the boy well off the ground, the chair dangling beneath him.

"Stop, whoever you are, or I will crush the kid's neck."

Robin struggled, his lungs already beginning to burn and he could almost feel his face turning purple. His vision was getting splotchy and his head was aching like never before. He tried to do something, bite the hand, swing the chair into the man, but he was practically immobile, his life slowly being choked out. As things started to get unbearably fuzzy and his lungs felt like fire, he felt the pressure release and his body drop to the floor, and anguished yell in the background followed by a grunt and a thump.

Robin took gasping breaths, trying to calm his racing heart and fill his empty lungs. He's landed on his side, the chair landing heavily on his left arm, but it didn't hurt too bad and would probably only bruise. His throat hurt, but he knew the choking hadn't lasted long enough to leave much damage, despite how painful it had been.

In between his gasps he felt hands fumbling with his bonds, eventually freeing his hands and then his feet. He immediately struggled into a sitting position, his eyes taking in the unconscious form of Ubu to his right, a large bruise already forming on his forehead. Wow, must've taken some kick to knock out that hulk.

"Are you okay?"

Robin gasped, the voice not the one he was expecting to be hearing. His head snapped to the doorway, only to see a coat hanger covered in a black cloth with an empty Bat-cowl on top.

"Wha-?"

"Yeah, lame, I know. It was mostly meant to distract that guy while I snuck in from behind. Good idea, right?" As Robin listened, he noticed the voice, oh so familiar, sounded shaky.

"Barbara Gordon?" The boy asked, pivoting around to see her face. The cowl was gone now, proving there was no doubt it was Babs.

"You know me?" Barbara gasped, sitting back on her heels, her face in shock as she crouched in front of him.

"Yeah, course." Robin smirked, rubbing his throat. Yeah, it would be sore for a couple days. "You're the Commissioner's kid. I gotta know all the important people in this city if I wanna protect it."

"Oh, right, of course."

"What did you…? How…?" He gestured to the unconscious Ubu on the floor.

"Snuck up from behind while he was busy choking you. I don't think he ever really saw me, so he was really just threatening empty air. Once I got close, it was all just pressure points. And a hard kick to the head."

Robin nodded, mildly impressed, though angry as well.

"I thought I told you to go home." He shot at her, getting unsteadily to his feet and making his way over to the unconscious man, trying to locate his stolen accessories.

"Wow, some way to thank someone for saving your life." Barbara shot back, rising as well, her hands going to her hips.

"My life wasn't in danger." Robin pointed, crouching down and running his hands over Ubu's body, feeling for his belt.

"Right, because being choked isn't life threatening."

"That was your fault."

Barbara opened her mouth, but then shut it again, his argument dispelling her previous one. Robin smirked as he continued his search.

"Still, I saved you from kidnapping."

"Maybe."

"How is it maybe?"

The boy didn't answer, his hand finding a lump in the pocket of Ubu's pants. He stuck his hand in the pocket, successfully pulling out his utility belt and gloves. He checked them over, pleased to find them both untouched.

"You still owe me." Barbara argued again.

"Mhm? Maybe in your book." Robin stood and buckled his belt back on, slipping his gloves back over his hands as well. He was impressed at Barbara's skill, there was no question, but that didn't change the fact that he wanted her to go home.

"You do!"

"Yeah, okay, but I thought I told you to go home?"

"I couldn't just let you get captured!"

"Batman would've come for me." Eventually.

"What if he hadn't?"

"He would've."

Barbara huffed in obvious irritation and Robin smirked to himself, pleased at his ability to trigger people's emotions so easily. Some might say he was just annoying (well, most), but he knew it was a rare skill he possessed.

"Train me." Barbara suddenly demanded, straightening up and glaring down at Robin.

"What?" Robin asked, though he knew perfectly well what she'd said.

"Train me. Train me to fight crime."

"No."

"Fine, but you can't stop me from doing it on my own."

Robin stared at Barbara, his own eyes widening slightly as he saw her eyes: fierce, determined; there was a fire in her eyes, not unlike the fire that had burned in his eyes when he'd first become Robin and gone after Tony Zucco.

"Why?" He asked her, his eyes searching her face for any sign of doubt. "Why do you want this?"

"Because," she started, her voice strong and determined. "There's someone I have to protect. And someone I have to avenge. I may not be able to go after her killer, but I make sure something like that never happens again."

Robin nodded, the phrase ringing familiar in his ears. He'd uttered something of the same four years ago, the night he took the oath. Her mother: she wanted to do this for her mother - and her father. He couldn't deny her that, could he? Not when he knew the feeling all too well. Besides, if he didn't train her, she'd only run off by herself, which was something he didn't want in the slightest. He knew Barbara too well to think she'd stay at home after tonight.

"Alright, fine." Robin announced, his face taking on a superior look, or at least that's what he was going for. "I'll train you." Barbara's face lit up. "Under one condition: no running around on your own. Oh, and you have to get an outfit that actually fits. Guess that's two conditions. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

"Good. I'll meet you on the roof of the abandoned hotel on fifty-second street at eight sharp tomorrow. Don't be late."

Barbara nodded. Robin smirked, giving Barbara one last look before expertly disappearing into the shadows and swiftly exiting the room, only turning back briefly to call out:

"Oh, and you go by Batgirl now."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Voila! Batgirl is born!

[1]: Some of the first "Gotham style" buildings were designed by Cyrus Pinkney, according to Batman mythos.

I'm running short on inspiration, I'm running long on borrowed time... No, just kidding. But I am running short on inspiration so if any of you know of any songs that you think fit Robin, please tell me! Songs pertaining to what I'm writing about really inspire me!

Thanks so much! Please review and tell me your thoughts!

Alex out.


	11. Spinning

**A/N: **woah, this is the fastest I've ever written a chapter. It's short, but it's intense.

Thanks for all the reviews and faves and such! I love 'em all.

**ShadowCatAlex: **Thanks for the review. Bats was off looking for Ra's, and it's explained in this chapter a bit. The translation is: Batgirl Begins. Yeah, not super creative, but I liked it and didn't wanna write it in English and give it away.

**Dr. CraneSlaysDemons1234:** I'm glad you think they are funny. I don't usually think I'm a funny person, so I always appreciate it when people tell me my attempts at humor in a story are successful.

**READINGhearts17: **thanks for the review and song!

**XxNeonShadowsxX:** Yesh! Batgirl is epic! Glad you like kidnappings, cause there're some coming up that will hopefully make your heart race faster! The end of this story... you will probably die of a heart attack, if you really want to know. I just have to get that out there.

**mixxi:** Thanks bunches!

**Lakeshine:** Haha, yeah, when she finds out... it'll be a ride, to be sure. And Bats reaction...

**Bobby Corwen:** Wait to rock the long reviews! Thanks soooo much! Wow, really? You did that? I'm a little speachless. Thanks! I'm so glad you I make you laugh! I try to add humor to my stories cause, well, I like to laugh so I thought I'd share the love. Or something... Thanks for telling me that my humor's working! And, heck, I love your ramblings! Totes inspire me to update like right away! Thanks for the songs as well!

**Hana-Liatris:** Glad you like it! It will reoccur!

**Anonymous:** Thanks for the review! And the song! Here's your update!

**Kelly1432:** Woah, thanks, I'm glad you think so! Thanks for reviewing and hang on! It's a crazy ride!

Here's chapter 11:

* * *

><p>Bruce Wayne sighed to himself, pulling his hood up over his uncharacteristically messy black hair. The night was already upon the city of Gotham and the streetlamps cast their golden light over the billionaire as he made his way down the street, hands shoved in the pockets of an old sweatshirt. He was dressed in old jeans along with the worn black sweatshirt so that from first, or second or third glance, no one would identify him as Gotham's richest man. One would, of course, assume that this was intentional, as Bruce Wayne didn't usually make it a habit of wandering the streets of Gotham at night dressed a common man. Or so one would assume, but one could never be sure, seeing as no one would recognize him if he did, so perhaps he did make a habit of it. No one would ever really know.<p>

Bruce inwardly cringed as he accidently stomped through a rather deep puddle on the side of the street and his shoe was instantly soaked. The puddle's origin was an old drainage pipe that drained out onto the street, the water then flowing down the sewer, or so the original idea was. Over time, a pot hole had developed just below where the water came out of the pipe so that when water flowed down towards the gutter, it got caught in hole, hence the puddle. Bruce was usually careful to avoid the water, but his mind was elsewhere at the moment and he'd paid for it with his sock.

Contrary to popular belief, Bruce Wayne actually did make a habit of wandering down the streets of Gotham at night. He wasn't consistent with it, seeing as the night was Batman's element, but he did occasionally venture out on a quiet night, when there was too much on his mind for simply walking through the manor to take care of. Tonight, the weight on his mind was unusually heavy, even for being unusually heavy, if that makes any sort of sense. The weight could probably be attributed to the fact that there was more than one thing pressing down on his mind, so to speak.

The matter was the safety of his ward and Robin, the danger from the Cadmus Case growing with each passing day. Now, with the evidence pointing to the involvement of Ra's al Ghul (who had been since taken care, the supposed 'assassination attempt' being nothing more than a ruse to draw out the Dynamic Duo in hopes of capturing Robin), the whole thing had become all the more dangerous, and, frankly, Bruce was contemplating how best to handle it. Batman, of course, knew what to do, but there was more than just Batman involved this time. This time, both Bruce Wayne _and_ Batman had a problem. So, one could say, there were two things weighing down on the mind of the man who embodied both personas.

He hated making Robin stay back, making the boy angry with his guardian, but what else could he do? He knew how real the threat was and how badly he had to protect the boy from what could happen. Sure, he wasn't sure of all the details yet, but he knew this was far more than a typical ransom situation. Bruce knew that if 'Cadmus' got hold of the boy, he would never see him again. Whatever this 'Cadmus' wanted with Robin, they didn't just want Robin, but Dick Grayson too. They didn't care who they captured because it wasn't about either persona: it was about what they'd done to the person who embodied them.

There was no way Bruce would ever let them take Dick and Batman would never let them take Robin, but by protecting him, he knew he was only making the boy angry. He remembered what Alfred said, about making it up to Robin for keeping so many secrets from him: he would regret it if he didn't. And of course Robin knew that Batman was keeping secrets from him, and Batman was fine with that, but Bruce wasn't. Bruce didn't want keep his ward in the dark, but Batman knew it was the only way to keep him safe. And since Batman knew what he was doing, Bruce wasn't doing anything.

"Bruce Wayne." The voice was feminine, laced with barely disguised seduction. Of course she would know it was him. "Fancy meeting you out here, at this time of night. I thought you gave up your nightly wanderings after that little trip to wherever it was you left to."

"Selina," he greeted, his voice unreadable. "I could say the same for you. It's not common for such a lady as yourself to be out at this time of night. Gotham isn't safe after sunset."

"Gotham is never safe, Mr. Wayne."

Bruce smiled in agreement, his well-practiced, playboy act coming almost naturally.

"Which means you can hardly claim it safe for yourself to be out here, all alone." Selina continued, a small smile creeping onto her features. "Someone as esteemed as yourself would be a tempting target, unguarded as you are."

"Don't worry about me, Miss Kyle, I think can handle myself just fine." Bruce assured.

"So formal, Mr. Wayne. One might think we're only old acquaintances."

"As compared to friends, you mean."

Selina smiled seductively, placing her long fingers in her coat pocket. Which she was wearing, despite the temperature being warm enough that even a sweatshirt was uncomfortably hot. Bruce would know.

"You seemed worried, Mr. Wayne." She observed, a hint of a frown gracing her face. "What's troubling you?"

Bruce sighed, reaching up and running a hand over his face. She knew him too well.

"It's hardly important to you." He told her, only half hoping she would believe him.

"No need to be so rude."

"I'm only returning the favor."

"I was only asking after your health, so to speak. It's not good for a man to worry too much. Causes anxiety."

"Hmm."

"You don't believe me, do you?"

"Hardly."

Selina stared at him for a moment, a finger going to rest on her chin.

"You're not enjoying my company, are you Mr. Wayne?" She finally asked, the small frown returning once more.

Bruce closed his eyes. "I'm afraid I'm not in the mood to enjoy any company tonight."

oOo

"Left hook needs to be higher, my chins on my face, not my chest."

"Mrgh!"

"Better. But now your stance is falling apart. If I were to shove at you, you'd be toast. Punch higher, but with your arm, not your body."

"Yah!"

"Eh, kinda….. No, not really. See, look, I could knock you over with a push. Imagine what a guy twice my size could do….. Um, no, now you just look stupid."

"Ugh! Why. Can't. I. HIT YOU!"

"I just told you why! Okay now your knees are locked: you've got no suspension, so to speak. If I were to go at you, your body would take all the force, not to mention you'd be locked rigid, with no flexibility or maneuverability….. Yeah, better, but don't move so much forward, you'll lose your balance and – woah, hey, what're you doing? We're working on – woah – not – mmf – moving!"

Barbara hit the ground, hard. She groaned, rubbing her backside as she struggled into a sitting position, her face burning red as she glared up at the smirking boy in front of her. This was the twelfth, no, thirteenth time he'd grounded her in the past twenty minutes, and there were countless times more over the previous hour they'd been 'training' on the rooftop of the abandoned hotel. She'd insisted on starting hand-to-hand combat on the first day, despite Robin's suggestion that they start with core training. Well, it was more than a suggestion, but she'd refused to do anything else, so he'd agreed to start her with hand-to-hand. Yeah, it might've been a bit immature to refuse to listen to him, but, hey, she was a gymnast! She had more core than all the football players in her school put together.

But that was beside the point. The point was that the smirking boy in front of her was beginning to get on her nerves. Sure she'd agreed to listen to him, to do everything he said, to never reveal her secret identity, to never fight crime alone, to always clean her gear, yada yada yada, but she'd never bargained for him to an overbearing, perfectionistic little jerk. Well, maybe that was taking it too far, but one had to get the point across, right?

Barbara glared up at the gloved hand that had just entered her vision before grabbing it and letting it pull her to her feet. She readjusted her utility belt that had been recently given to her, along with the promise of a new costume, which she somewhat doubted she was getting, and got back into her ready stance. Robin stared at her for a moment before finally sighing and putting his hands on his hips, something Barbara found he did whenever he was preparing to order her around.

"You really still wanna keep this up?"

"Yes!" She nearly shrieked at him, long hours of being beaten by a boy inches shorter than her beginning to take its toll.

"You really don't think that listening to me would be a better idea?"

"That's all I've been doing for the past five hundred hours!" Barbara cried, her anger bubbling to the surface.

"Well, I _am_ your teacher." He reminded her with oh-so annoying superiority in his voice.

"Well, _I_ am more experienced than you give me credit for!"

At this, Robin laughed, his typical cackle-like laugh that Barbara had become oh-so familiarized with in the past few hours. The laugh that continued to tick her off.

"What's so funny?" She demanded, her ready stance dissolving as she crossed her arms in a protective way and glared at his domino mask. Stupid mask; he hadn't taken it off the whole time and had even refused to tell her who he really was. Something about secret identity and junk.

Robin stopped laughing but continued to smile at her.

"First rule, er, second rule (first rule's the belt thing): never overestimate yourself. It's better to underestimate yourself and overestimate your opponent. That way you'll fight safe until you really know for sure who's better. Actually," a pensive look came over his face. "It's better just to estimate your opponents, I think…. That way-"

Barbara interrupted him, knowing full well he'd go on one of his long spiels about words and their prefixes. "Well then stop underestimating me!"

"I'm not. You're overestimating yourself."

"Am not!"

Robin just laughed again.

"Stop laughing at me!"

"Why do you keep getting so angry at me?" He asked, suddenly kicking himself up into a handstand so he was looking at her upside down, something else Barbara noticed he did when he was talking to her for any length of time. It was actually rather distracting.

"Because you're provoking me!" She replied, still glaring at his now-upside-down face.

"I'm not provoking you; you're just provoking yourself."

She snorted, letting her hands fall to her sides. That boy: thought he knew everything.

"Listen, Batgirl," That was another thing: he insisted on calling her Batgirl whenever she was 'in costume' (which meant when she was wearing a tacky old ski mask he'd given her and a workout suit consisting of black spandex). "I'm not trying to make you mad; I'm only trying to get you to see that you need more training than you think."

Barbara sighed, collapsing into a sitting position on the hard concrete of the roof. Of course he was right. No matter how much she'd trained on her own, she really had little to no idea what she was doing. She'd taken martial arts for years now, along with gymnastics, and was a black belt, but fighting insane super-villains: that was a whole new league.

"I know." She whispered to the ground. "It's just I want to get out there as soon as possible. Avenge my mother's death as soon as possible. And protect my father."

Robin, who was now sitting down across from her, nodded.

"Yeah, but you won't be able to do any of that if you're dead." He pointed out.

"Yeah."

"Hey, it's cool though. Just listen to me and I'll have you in fighting order soon enough."

Barbara let out a small smile as she got to her feet.

"Alright, what do you want me to do."

"Well, first I want you to go home and work on memorizing blue prints of the city." Robin told her, springing to his feet as well and pulling out his grappling hook.

"What?"

"You heard me. Meet me here, same time, Monday."

"Wait, but I-"

But the Boy Wonder was already gone. Barbara groaned, walking over to the edge where he disappeared to. Of course he was nowhere to be seen, but Barbara still stared off over the edge, his words running around through her mind. It would seem she had a lot of studying to do.

oOo

He'd been at it for a few days now and Robin still wasn't sure how he felt about training Barbara, or why he was doing it in the first place. Sure, he could tell himself he was doing it to protect her, so she wouldn't run off alone, but why not just tell Batman then and let him take care of it? He hadn't told Batman anything of what had happened regarding the capture by Ubu except that he'd managed to escape from the strong man's clutches. Barbara hadn't been brought up once, and he wasn't sure why. He rarely, if ever, kept secrets from his guardian, especially ones this big. But, he reminded himself, Batman rarely kept secrets from him either, unlike he undoubtedly was now. Maybe he was just sick of Batman's overprotectiveness and restraint and he wanted to do something by himself for a change.

But that was a stupid reason. Maybe he should just tell Batman and be done with it. Maybe –

"Hey, Wonder Boy." What was she doing waltzing around Gotham in her costume? Of course she'd gotten the call about Clayface, but she could have been a bit more discreet about getting to the mountain.

"Hey, Artemis! Fancy meeting you here, in Gotham." Better teach her now.

Artemis looked at him rather annoyed. "You know I live here, Sherlock."

"I do, but the rest of the world doesn't. A little suspicious, considering you're usually in Star." Robin told her, falling in step beside the archer.

"Whatever."

"You should be more careful." She just glared at him. "But anyways, you get the summons from Batman?"

"Yeah, 'cept Green Arrow apparently has a 'special' mission for me." At this, a rather murderous look came over Artemis' face. "He probably just wants me out of the way so I don't get in the way."

Probably not true….

"I doubt that. You've proved yourself to be a valuable asset to the Team - he knows that."

"I wish." She grumbled, kicking a stone with her foot.

They walked in silence for a moment before Artemis looked over at Robin.

"You missed a big mission with Doctor Fate." She finally said.

"Yeah, Wally told me all about it at Nelson's funeral."

"Where were you anyway? During the mission I mean."

"Batman business."

Artemis nodded, a suspicious look coming over her face. "This 'Batman business wouldn't have anything to do with Cadmus, would it?"

Crap, how'd she find out?

"I know what you're thinking."

Crap, how'd she know? Crap, why was he making a fool of himself in his head?

"I asked Wally about it."

Robin blinked. "And he actually told you?"

"Not exactly, but he told me about your first 'mission' and I deduced the rest."

Robin nodded, his mind whirling but his face nonchalant.

"I don't know much." Artemis continued. "But I do know that Cadmus is involved in this whole 'let's capture Robin thing' they've got going. I was hoping you could tell me the rest."

"Nope!" Why not antagonize her?

"No?!"

"Nope, sorry, strictly classified."

"Why you-!"

Robin just cackled, bounding off ahead of the archer. He knew she'd find out eventually, if she really cared that much, but he would rather not help her with her search. Maybe he would tell, but not until he knew her a little better. Besides, it was far more amusing making her mad.

oOo

"Just Aqualad."

The rings jingled as the weight was momentarily taken off them and then they were taut again.

What was he playing at? First it was being left out of Gotham missions, now this? What, did he not trust his own partner anymore? Cadmus shmadmus. He could handle himself! He was Robin, the Boy Wonder! He'd taken more than a couple kidnapping attempts! Why didn't Batman trust him? He wasn't even telling him everything that was going on!

Dick lowered himself into a hold, his mind spinning. Fine, if he wasn't going to talk to him, then Robin wasn't going to talk to Batman. Batgirl was his secret now. See how Bruce liked being left in the dark.

Dick flipped around the rings, his mind spinning like his body was. It was new to him, Bruce not telling him what was going on. He was old enough to know! Especially seeing as it was about him!

With a growl, Dick released the rings and flipped through the air, his eyes already sighting for his landing and the post below him. He overshot it and lost his balance, his feet touching the ground only to leave it once more as he toppled over the side. He caught himself on his hands before throwing his feet back to standing, only to stumble backwards into a wall. A wall. His fist rose and he whirled around, slamming his knuckles into the wall, a sizable dent appearing when he took his hand away. He forced himself not to flinch, no matter how much it hurt.

Dick sighed, walking over and collapsing on a bench, reaching for a bottle of water, his mind still spinning, despite the still position of his body.

Dick heard a clearing of throat and looked up to see Alfred standing in the doorway.

"Master Bruce wishes to see you."

Dick stood, inwardly growling. So, Bruce wanted to make it up to him. Well, he better have something good in mind.

oOo

_The men were speaking in Arabic, but Robin knew enough of the language to understand what they were saying:_

"_Queen Bee wants him alive." _

_Great, someone else after him. _

_As soon Miss Martian restored their memories, Robin couldn't help remembering what the soldiers had said. So Queen Bee was in on it too. He wondered vaguely if Batman knew. Probably not, or he never would've been allowed on the mission. _

Why doesn't he have faith in my abilities?

"_Stay here, Robin." _

"_Why? I can help you!" _

"_Not this time." _

I can take care of myself! Why doesn't he see that?

"_He was captured because I wasn't there to watch your back!" _

"_You could have been captured instead." _

"_What happened to civilians are always first?" _

"_Go home, Robin." _

Now he thinks keeping me out of action is a more important mission than saving a civilian from kidnapping?

_Batgirl. He kept training her, every night he could sneak out. It was becoming easier and easier the more Batman patrolled on his own. Batgirl was still his secret. Something he wouldn't tell Batman about. _

Because why should I? He'd just tell her to go home. She deserves as much a chance as I do. Or did.

"_I thought I told you to stay back at the cave." _

"_I'm just doing what you would've done!" _

_He looked disappointed. Angry, even. _

What does he want of me? He made me Robin and now he's trying to keep me from it.

"_Be careful, Robin. Kobra is not to be taken lightly." _

"_I know that." _

_Finally, a mission. _

But what he doesn't know-

"_Robin, I told you to stay back." _

"_And let you have all the fun? No way." _

_Artemis and Wally were watching the exchange. _

"_Robin, this is serious. If Kobra had been in on it-"_

"_But he wasn't!" _

"_But he could've been."_

"_I can't just sit back and do nothing!" _

-is that Robin is who I am. Because-

"_Superboy and Miss Martian: this mission is for you." _

_Robin watched Batman send out the Kryptonian and Martian, fire burning in his eyes behind his mask. _

-if I'm not Robin, who am I?

oOo

"Yo, Rob, you still awake?"

"Huh?"

"Someone's suffering from late nights on patrol."

Robin glanced up to where Wally stood, his hand only slightly removed from being waved in front of the thirteen-year-old's face. Artemis sat to his left, her arms draped over the back of the couch and her legs crossed in front of her. The three were sitting in the, well, sitting room in Mount Justice, the giant television on, playing the newest episode of Celebrity Hockey. They were all dressed in their civilian clothes, a large bowl of popcorn in front of them as they waited for the resident aliens to return from their latest mission.

Batman, along with Superman, Martian Manhunter, Red Tornado, and Aqualad were also busy handling the mission, which left the three teens the run of the mountain. Robin had been, unsurprisingly, upset about being left out of the mission, but wasn't too bothered by it, seeing as Artemis and Kid Flash were left behind too.

"I'm not asleep." Robin groaned, flicking away Wally's hand.

"Sorry, couldn't tell behind your glasses."

Robin rolled his eyes. Stupid glasses.

"'Sides, I didn't want you to miss Selena Gonzalez! She's up next."

"What, does Robby have a crush on her or something?" Artemis asked, smirking.

"No, I do not." Robin replied, before Wally could lie. "She was just someone we rescued on a mission one time. Before you joined the Team." He clarified, noticing her confused look.

"Yeah, back before the Team was poisoned by your presence."

Yeah, those two were still going at it.

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Really, that's the best you got?"

Wally spluttered for a moment before his attention was diverted back to the screen.

"Here she is!" He screeched, reaching for the remote and turning up the volume way too loud.

"I think someone else has a crush." Artemis whispered to Robin.

"Hey, I heard that!"

"Just sit down, Kid Flirt." Artemis groaned, snatching the remote from Wally and pointing him to his seat on the other side of Robin.

"Seriously, though, Robin." Artemis said, once Wally had again become engrossed in the hockey. "You've been a little out of it recently. What's up?"

"Nothing." Robin sighed, shoving his glasses up his face and crossing his arms, pretending to be interested in the show. It was actually rather stupid - celebrities attempting to play hockey – but Wally apparently found it amusing.

"Yeah, sure, like I believe that face." Artemis mumbled.

"_Oh, and Selena takes a hard hit to the stomach. That's gotta hurt." _

"Why is this lady even considered a celebrity anyway?" Artemis asked over the announcer's next comment. "I mean, she's the CEO of a company, big deal."

"But she's beautiful!" Wally exclaimed, in between mouthfuls of popcorn.

"Being beautiful doesn't make someone famous!" Artemis argued, flicking a piece of popcorn at the speedster's eye. Her aim was dead on.

"Hey! And anyways, she _was_ captured by Black Spider and Hook. That's gotta count for something."

Artemis only rolled her eyes.

Robin closed his eyes, his head dropping until his face was pointing down into his lap. His head was spinning, _still_ spinning, and all he really wanted to do was get away from it all. The kidnapping attempts, Bruce, everything.

"I'll be right back. Gonna get some air." He announced, standing up and brushing stray popcorn crumbs from his jeans.

Once out of the room, he headed for the hanger doors, his head still bowed as he tried to collect himself. It wasn't that big of a deal, really. He'd dealt with worse before. Sure Bruce was being a jerk about it, but he could handle that, right? He was old enough to take care of himself. That's what Bruce wanted after all. He didn't think Robin could take care of himself, so he made him stay back. All he had to do was prove to Bruce he could handle it. He could do this. He just had to pull himself together. He was Robin, the Boy Wonder, right? He wore the mask for a reason.

"Hey, Rob, you okay?"

Robin spun around to see Wally standing behind him, a concerned expression on his face.

"Yeah, I'm good." Of course he was. No big deal.

"You sure, man?"

"Yeah, positive." He could take care of himself. He'd show Bruce he could.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **So, this is kinda the end of a stage of the story. The next stage is pretty neat and then the last stage is crazy intense, emotional, action-y rollercoaster of... something. You can decide what.

Thanks for reading and please review!

Alex out.


	12. To Get Traught

**A/N: **Hey! Chapter 12 is up!

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed, followed, favorite, all that good stuff.

** 1234****: **Well, thank you very much! I do enjoy them as a couple as well….

**ShadowCatAlex: **Wow, ninja Jedi powers there! Yes, this is Homefront and perhaps we shall hear of the Cat again….

**READINGhearts17: **Yes, he may… And thank you for the review!

**Bobby Corwen: **And once again your review blew me away! I am so glad you enjoyed that part with the thoughts! Honestly, that was one of my favorites to write! Well, I am very glad you appreciate little details. They are my friends! And I did not make up the TV show from the last chapter. It is actually a legit TV show made up by the creators of YJ. And don't worry about length! I love it!

**KaliAnn: **Thank you! And don't worry, you'll see it eventually! (spoiler!)

**Masqueraded Angel: **Thank you!

**mixxi: **Thank you as well!

**SeeSea17: **I like your name. And you will soon find out…

**Lakeshine: **You better hold on!

**Anonymous 1 and 2: **Thank you! And I will post the chapters as soon as I write them!

**XxNeonShadows17xX: **Thank you! I love your reviews so much! They are great! I really enjoy hearing what people like (and what they don't)!

**Kelly1432: **Thank you! And I'm glad you like the details as well!

So now, everybody, I'm super close to 100 reviews which is really exciting, so, for the 100th reviewer, I will write a one-shot of their choice. I will pm you if have an account and I can't pm you, you can review your request!

Just to clear up: I did not make up the TV show Celebrity Hockey. It is apparently an actual show in YJ universe that Robin, Artemis and Wally watched while Kaldur, M'gann, and Superboy were away on the Belle Reve Mission.

Thanks and read on!

* * *

><p>"We'll laugh about this someday."<p>

There was a bright flash and Artemis blinked as the picture appeared on the phone's screen. Once she opened her eyes, the small boy was gone. Wow, that was fast….

"Uh, who was that?" She asked, looking over at the blonde girl who'd just introduced herself as…. Dang it, she'd already forgotten her name! How was she supposed to make friends if she couldn't even remember the name of the first girl she met? Not that she needed friends or anything….

"A freshman. Ignore him." The girl replied, already leading her away. It looked like school was already shaping up to be weird.

oOo

Dick cackled as he walked away, already texting the picture to Wally. Cause really, it was just too good an opportunity to pass up. He just hoped Wally wouldn't slip up and accidently show it to Artemis.

"Dick, what was that about?"

Dick looked over to where Barbara stood, leaning against a pillar.

"Nothing, Barbara, just being friendly with the new girl."

Barbara just rolled her eyes, probably already familiar with her friend's sometimes odd actions before walking away, no doubt heading to class.

"Oh, hey, happy birthday by the way!" Dick called after her. **[1]**

"It's not until tomorrow." Barbara snapped back over her shoulder.

"I know! I'm just getting a head start."

It surprised Dick somewhat to find that their relationship hadn't changed much since Robin had started training Batgirl except that Barbara had become more secretive, to which Dick was glad, and had less free time, something she attributed to gymnastics season starting. He himself found somewhat difficult to hang out with her, seeing as he had to be careful what he said depending on who he was at the time. Being Robin around Batgirl was harder than being Dick around Barbara, though, and he found that he had to be especially careful to keep his personality in check when training the girl.

As to why he didn't tell her who he was and be done with it, well, besides the whole Batman secret identity thing, which Robin could hardly care less about, he knew that if she knew that Dick Grayson and Robin were one in the same, she'd be in danger - in danger from insane villains and in danger from 'Cadmus' or whoever was behind the kidnapping attempts. The less people who knew his secret identity the better. He may not care about Batman and his rules, but he cared about his friend's safety so he had to keep Barbara in the dark, no matter how she might hate him for it if she ever found out.

oOo

"-But then maybe I could take her patrolling with me…. She hasn't really seen any action yet and I know she's dying to…. But then if anyone sees her, word will spread faster than Kid Flash on caffeine." He paused as he semiconsciously changed languages. _«__She could always be covert, keeping a lookout for me…. Still, if she's attacked and has to fight, someone will see, and most likely get their face punched in by her, and then Batman will know and it'll all be off….__»_

Robin paused in his conversation with himself, annoyed at himself for constantly contradicting himself. No wonder he was no good at debate. There were just too many sides to every problem.

Footsteps echoed in the abandoned ally and Robin's head shot up, his eyes scanning the darkness for the source of the sound. He located a shadow and watched as it grew slowly closer and greener and into-

"Artemis?" Had he not understood him last time? Walking around Gotham as superhero equals bad.

"Robin!" She sounded surprised and… nervous? "I, uh…."

Might as well deliver the message again:

"How random, that you're in Gotham City, instead of Star City, where your uncle Green Arrow lives." Could he make it any more obvious?

"Well, I uh, was here to see my cousin… who was in the spelling bee…."

"Dressed as a superhero?" He asked, pretending like he couldn't keep the excitement out of his voice. "C-o-o-l. Did she w-i-n?"

"N-o." Artemis snapped, obviously annoyed with his behavior.

"Hey, if you're gonna keep making mistakes, I'm gonna keep calling them." He smirked.

"How am I making a mistake? It's not uncommon to see heroes in cities besides their own."

"Unless that cities Gotham. 'Sides, it means people are only one step closer to finding out your secret identity."

"Not everyone guards it with their life." Artemis grumbled. "Maybe I don't really care."

"Not with your choice of a hero name."

Artemis sighed. "Well what, do you expect me to change at Mount Justice?"

"W-h-y n-o-t?"

"Ugh, let's just go to the cave." She growled, sticking her thumb at the abandoned telephone booth.

"Ladies first," Robin smirked, bowing and pointing her in.

"Your town, you go." She replied, crossing her arms, obviously not happy about losing the outfit argument.

Robin shrugged, stepping into the phone booth and feeling inexplicably like Doctor Who. Maybe it was the whole phone booth thing. He closed his eyes as blinding light engulfed him and his breath was suddenly taken away as his molecules were rearranged and he felt even more like a certain time lord. After a moment it passed and he heard the familiar voice:

"_Recognized: Robin B-01_"

When he opened his eyes he found himself engulfed in a thick cloud of red smoke. His eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly before he felt a heavy _something_ slam into his side and send him flying across the room. He gasped in air before rolling to his feet, his hands reaching for his belt. He heard a whirring noise and then:

"_Recognized: Artemis B-07"_

-followed by another whirring noise that sounded like a weapon charging up. Without thinking, Robin hurled himself at the newly materialized archer with a shout of:

"Watch out!"

They both tumbled to the ground just as a giant fiery cannonball shot over their head. Wait, giant fiery cannonball?

Robin rolled to his feet, swiftly drawing two batarangs and hurling them into the smoke, smirking as he was rewarded with two clangs…. Which probably meant that his weapons didn't do damage in the least, but at least he had good aim, right? Wrong. Another fiery cannonball shot out at the two heroes, probably in retaliation for the batarangs.

Robin ducked out of the way, more weapons finding their way into his hands as he heard the tell-tale sounds of Artemis drawing her bow. He threw his batarangs in rapid succession, quickly to be followed by two arrows, the sharp kind, Robin noted, and he heard again a clanging sound followed by yet another giant, fiery cannonball.

Robin threw himself to the floor, springing up again once the cannonball hit the wall. He backed up until he stood parallel with Artemis, who was still firing arrows, the exploding kind this time, and braced himself for another attack. He squinted into the smoke as two figures became visible, one resembling a man and the other, a woman. Both, though, didn't look quite right.

"Who are we fighting?" Artemis screeched, more arrows flying from her bow. Robin couldn't help but wonder how many she had in her quiver.

"No idea." He answered her, letting another batarang fly. "But we're sitting ducks by these tubes. Head for the exit."

And without a pause he took off across the floor towards the door, the sound of Artemis close on his heels reassuring him to keep running. Another cannonball followed behind them as they made it to the hallway… only to run into a giant wave of water.

"Or not." Robin decided, skidding to a halt as he watched a newly formed river flow down through the cave's corridors. So, this was new. Batman never said anything about landscaping the _inside_ of the cave….

A giant wave rose up and crashed into the two heroes, hurling them violently against the wall. Robin gasped as the water receded, but had no time to catch his breath as another fiery cannonball, fireball, shot at their heads. Robin grabbed Artemis' hand and yanked her up and running. Though Robin didn't glance behind him, he heard what sounded like a tornado of fire following them as they headed for the training room. Crazy weather we're having today, huh?

Robin sighed in relief as the sliding doors shut securely behind him and the sounds of the fray were semi drowned out. He didn't stop running though, but a put a finger to his ear and pressed his com link:

"Robin to Team: come in. Aqualad!"

Behind him he heard Artemis do the same. There was no response. Robin heard a snapping sound and then felt intense heat on his back before he was thrown forward by the force of the fireball that had just broken down the door. He landed heavily on his chest and saw Artemis had landed beside him with an "oof".

They both struggled to their feet and took off running again as they were chased through the training room by the fire storm. Yeah, this would be an interesting story to tell Alfred. 'So Master Richard, what did you do today?' 'Oh, you know, got chased through the cave by a giant tornado made of fire and water. Nothing new.'

Oh, but speaking of Alfred….

"Robin to Batcave: override RG-4. Cave calling Justice League: HOJ slash Watchtower, B-01. Priority: Red." He received no response.

Robin sprinted into the showers, the doors closing behind them, and immediately ran over to the knobs and started turning them on, knowing that Artemis was copying him on the opposite wall. The water felt good as Robin walked through it, the heat from the fire tornado getting to be almost unbearable. Once done he turned to Artemis, who had drawn her bow.

"Com is down." He told her, getting into a defensive position. "Locked." He glanced around the room. "At least the water's helping."

There was a rumbling noise and the knobs burst off the wall, followed by the shower heads and tiles. The room was quickly filling up with water.

"Or not."

Robin felt his feet leave the ground and soon he was treading water. Even sooner they were completely underwater. Robin saw Artemis' eyes grow wide with fear and he quickly swam over to the wall, planting an exploding disk on it before backing off. It blinked three times before blowing the wall away and releasing the water in a wave.

They both gasped as they found themselves soaking wet and sitting in a hallway of the cave. Robin took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart as he shook his head, spraying water everywhere as he tried to get his sopping bangs out of his face. He knew they were in a desperate situation, with no contact to the watchtower and the Team's status unknown. He also knew that Artemis was likely panicking under her tough-girl façade.

He had to pull it together. Now was his chance to prove to Batman he could handle himself. He'd been doing this for four years, he could do this. Taking another deep breath he quickly came up with a plan and sprang to his feet, Artemis following him. They ran down the hallway, Robin making a beeline for the kitchens.

"We need to get lost." He told the archer, glancing around the kitchen for a vent of some sort. Wally was right: his plans usually did involve crawling through vents. One of the few perks of being small.

"The air vent!" Artemis cried, pointing to its place about the stove. He liked the way she thought.

"Good!" He exclaimed, quickly going over to the security pad on the door. "Go, I'll be right there."

The hacker expertly pulled up the needed files as his companion watched from her perch on the stove.

"What are you-" She began, no doubt doubtful.

"Downloading cave blueprints." He replied as he transferred the files onto his gauntlet computer. "Could come in-" He paused, listening. "Go, go!"

They both quickly scrambled into the vents, Artemis pulling Robin up as he found himself just slightly too short to reach. Figures. Once up, Artemis took the lead as Robin directed her where to go. The vents were small, but thankfully they both fit with enough room to move.

"That way." Robin directed, diving into the vent just a fireball streaked through the one they'd just left. "Too close." He gasped, feeling where the heat singed the back of his neck through his sodden cape.

"Take the next right." He directed.

"Why don't you lead?" Artemis demanded, following his instruction. "And if you dare say it's because you like the view back there…."

Robin raised an eyebrow, though he knew she couldn't see it. "No! I'm thirteen!"

"Sorry, guess I'm just used to Wally."

Robin rolled his eyes as he glanced back down at the holographic map of the cave.

"There should be a vent cover straight ahead of you." He announced. "There!"

"Yeah, I see it Sherlock."

Artemis ripped the cover off and, without hesitating, threw herself down feet first. Robin followed, the air whipping through his hair and causing water droplets to spray off behind him. They landed on the top of a metal staircase structure in the back room of the cave where all the piping and machinery was kept. At least, that's where Robin hoped they were. Judging from the giant tanks everywhere, he assumed he'd hit his mark.

The acrobat pulled up his holo display again and glanced at it before motioning to Artemis.

"This way."

They ran down the stairs, only to get stopped by a fireball thrown from… a person incased in fire? Another interesting conversation to have with Alfred. The person started chucking fireballs at them, creaking almost mechanically, and Robin pulled Artemis down through all the different tanks and machines. He noticed one, possibly for measuring the temperature of something, where the graph was quickly turning all red, only to break when it reached the farthest it could go.

"That's not good." Robin announced.

"Yet another case solved by Detective Obvious." Artemis replied sarcastically.

They ran pell-mell through the machinery, steam beginning to blow out from random holes which Robin was pretty certain weren't supposed to blow steam. The fireball hurling figure followed them, hurling fireballs as they sprinted to where Robin hoped was another access tunnel.

"Agh, I know there's another access tunnel around here somewhere." He mumbled pausing behind a large tank to look.

"You mean this one?" Artemis asked, running over to an open hole in the ground.

"Uh, yeah, that one."

Robin planted an exploding disk, which would hopefully slow down the fiery figure, before dropping down the tunnel after the archer.

Once in, the boy quickly ran over to a USB port and pried the cover off with a batarang, plugging in his gauntlet computer.

"Okay, I'm locking out cave's motion and heat sensors to prevent the enemy from tracking us." He told Artemis, his fingers flying across the holographic keys.

"Okay, but who is the enemy?" She asked, her eyes locked on his face.

"Let's find out. Downloading cave security footage…."

"Do you have to announce what you're doing every time you do it?"

Robin sent her his best batglare before returning his gaze to the screen.

"There," he announced as a video came up of Kid Flash, Miss Martian, Superboy, and Superboy's new 'pet' Sphere all gathered around Superboy's motorcycle which was laying on its side in the hanger. Aqualad could be seen just entering the camera.

"Dork Wrench," Kid Flash called, holding out his hand.

Miss Martian levitated the called for tool over to the speedster.

"Why thank you, Green Cheeks." He replied, already applying the tool to the motorcycle.

"I've been meaning to ask," Aqualad, who'd just entered, began, watching the three. "Any problems juggling schoolwork with your responsibilities here?"

"No." Superboy immediately replied, his voice void of emotion.

"Juggling's just one of my many talents." Kid Flash said, though Robin knew that juggling was one thing he could not do to save his life. "Socket wrench."

"Well, daily cheerleading practice has presented a challenge," Miss Martian admitted, levitating the new wrench over to Kid. "But my first loyalty is always to the Team." She added. "_This_ Team!" She quickly elaborated. "Not the Bumblebees."

"Artemis starts school today." Aqualad announced and Robin saw Artemis stiffen out of the corner of his eye. "Do you think she will have trouble maintaining her loyalties?"

At this Artemis' eyes narrowed as she glared at the video.

"Nah, she'll manage alright." Kid Flash said, standing up and brushing off his hands. "I mean, how much more hostile and annoying can she get? 'Sides, Robin handles school, the Team, _and_ Batman and he's-"

Then the screen cut out and was replaced by fuzz, but not before a scream could be heard.

"What happened?" Artemis demanded.

"Explosion took out the camera." Robin explained, fingers already dancing over the keys. "I'll find another angle."

Soon four screens appeared on the holo display, one already out. They watched as giant waved engulfed their friends, each wave taking out a camera until all their friends had been hit and all the cameras were out.

"That's it." Robin said grimly. "All four are dead."

He looked over at Artemis who had an appalled look on her face. Maybe that came out wrong.

"The cameras!" He quickly added. "I meant the cameras. I'm sure the others are fine. Just give me a sec to find the fastest route to the hanger." Despite what he'd said, he wasn't so sure about the condition the others were and wanted to find out as soon as possible.

"Right, cause they have superpowers; they can handle anything." Artemis said, leaning back against the side of the vent. Robin blinked in surprise at her words.

"Wait, what?"

"You heard me." She grumbled, crossing her arms.

oOo

Within five minutes they were running through the library Robin trying desperately to remember which bookcase it was.

"There's a secret passage, behind one of these bookcases." He told the archer.

"Seriously?" She asked. "Cliché much?"

"You should see the Batcave." Robin murmured.

There was a clanking behind them and Robin yanked Artemis behind a bookshelf, both with weapons drawn. Robin peaked through the space between the books and the shelves, eyes searching for the source of the noise. A flash of red passed through his vision followed by:

"Artemis, Robin." The voice was that of-

"It's Red Tornado!" Artemis exclaimed, leaping out from behind the bookcase.

Robin watched, eyes wide as 'Red Tornado' came into view. The figure was undoubtedly an android, but was far too tall to be their den mother. Robin saw Artemis' eyes widen as she too realized she just jumped in front of the enemy. At least they knew who it was now. The android's hand reached out to the archers face and Robin threw himself at the girl, rolling with her under a table. He felt his ankle twist in a rather unpleasant way and pain shot up his leg.

"Yes on the red, no on the tornado." He said, rolling out and pulling Artemis with him, ignoring his ankle.

They took off running, again, only to get stopped by a female android shooting fireballs. At least they found the source of those. Robin quickly doubled back and climbed up the nearest bookcase, Artemis hot on his heels. The acrobat leaped across the top of the shelves, his eyes narrowed as he finally remembered where the secret passage was. You know what they say about a bird's eye view? Well, they were right, whoever they are.

The sprinkler system turned as Robin dropped down in front of the correct shelf. He heard Artemis firing arrows at their pursuers as his fingers scanned the books until he found the right one. He pulled it down and the passage opened. He suddenly felt Artemis slam into him as she knocked him into the passage, the place where they'd just been standing now home to a fallen bookcase.

"Thanks." Robin panted as they ran.

"Yeah, sure, no problem." Artemis replied. "I…. owed you anyways. But… did you know Tornado had," she paused, probably looking for the right word, "siblings?"

"No."

They came to a crossroads so to speak and Robin quickly picked left only to get stopped by Artemis' hand on his wrist holding him back.

"So now what?" She demanded, glaring at him. "Tornado is one of the powerhouses of the League. How are we supposed to take down of two of him?"

"They do seem pretty user unfriendly." Robin smirked.

"Don't joke! At least not _that_ lamely."

"Hey, I-" But he was cut off by the sound of the male android's voice echoing over the speakers.

"Attention Robin, attention Artemis: you have exactly ten minutes to surrender before the lives of your teammates are extinguished. We only want Robin and will not harm the others if he comes willingly. That is all." Great, someone else to add to the 'wants Robin' list.

"Oh, that's all." Artemis said sarcastically. "And really, extinguished?" But Robin could tell by the worried look she shot his way that she was scared. She looked like she wanted to say more, but Robin knew he couldn't risk her beginning to worry. Nor could he answer any question she would undoubtedly have relating to Cadmus and previous 'Artemis and Robin: Misadventures'.

"Come on, let's go." Robin motioned her to follow him and they were running again, the voice of the android slowly counting down the time they had left. How much time he had left until his teammates died because of him.

"We can access the hanger from here." Robin motioned towards the door at the end of the hallway.

But of course a giant wave chose that moment to come crashing through the exit towards them.

"Or not." Robin sighed, turning and running in the opposite direction.

"Will you please stop saying that?" Artemis shrieked. "It's bringing us bad luck!"

"You didn't strike me as the type to believe in luck."

"My mom rubs off on me."

Suddenly Robin felt a solid wall of water slam into his back and he cried out as they were both sucked into the wave. Once he'd righted himself, the acrobat found himself being dragged back by his cape and he quickly released the clasp, letting it float away down the tunnel. He then shoved his re-breather in his mouth and sucked in a deep breath before swimming over to Artemis and handing it her.

She smiled briefly at him before screaming, or as best as one can scream underwater, as Red Water-Bomb grabbed her ankle and started pulling her backwards. She frantically beat at its head until it grabbed her wrist, probably more annoyed than anything. Robin snatched an arrow that probably fell out of Artemis bow when the water hit them, and jabbed it into the androids eye. It worked and the machine released the girl, who Robin quickly grabbed around the waist and held tight as he shot his grappling hook at the far wall, leaving a trail of exploding disks in his wake.

The two surfaced and Robin gasped in air, his lungs burning and his heart racing. He'd nearly run out of breath and could tell Artemis had too, seeing as she'd dropped his re-breather when she'd screamed. Robin slowly took deep breaths, trying to calm himself as the realization that he was the reason for all this finally sunk in. He didn't have time to dwell on it, though as suddenly a voice yelled:

"Look out!"

Robin dove under again just as a fireball hit the water where he'd been a moment ago. He swam in the direction he'd heard the voice and surfaced right in front of…. Superboy and Kid Flash trapped in warped metal?

"You guys okay?" He gasped, noting that they water was almost up to their necks.

"Forget us!" Superboy yelled. "Help M'gann!" He looked up and Robin saw a cage made of fire (Alfred) and assumed that that's where the androids were keeping the Atlantian and Martian, seeing as their species' were especially susceptible to heat.

"Aqualad!" Artemis called. "Is she-?"

"She is unconscious." Came the reply. "I fear she – we – cannot survive much longer."

Robin growled to himself. Why? Why did they have to go after his Team? Gah! If he just surrendered….

"I know what you're thinking, buddy." Kid Flash.

"Wha-?" Robin looked up to where his best friend was trapped.

"Don't surrender yourself for us. They'll kill, or take you away, or whatever it is they want with you."

Robin's eyes widened. How did he-?

"I know what's been going on. Or some of it at least." The speedster whispered, a concerned look on his face. "The kidnapping attempts. I know enough to know that no good will come of you surrendering."

"But if I don't, you'll die!"

"Hey, we still have-"

"Seven minutes." Android.

"Yeah, see, seven minutes. You can still-"

Whatever he was about to say was cut off as another fireball came flying at Robin and Artemis and they were forced to dive back under water. Robin motioned Artemis to follow him and they swam underwater until they reached the steps. They climbed out of the water, a plan already forming in Robin's mind. Or at least, a plan to get a plan.

"Uh, Robin, we're surrounded." Artemis had her bow raised, alternating between pointing at Red Fireball who was approaching from the top of the steps and Red Water-bomb who was climbing out of the water at the bottom, his left eye still sparking.

"I'm almost out of arrows." Artemis said.

"Distract her, now!" Robin ordered, pulling out two exploding disks and hurling them at Water-bomb. The angle had to be just right…. They both bounced harmlessly off his metal chest, but the acrobat smirked as he heard one lodge itself in the soft metal incasing Kid Flash.

It seemed that being hit with flying disks made the android angry, however, as it raised up two columns of water and hurled them at the two heroes. Robin quickly glanced behind him and saw that Red Fireball was doing the same. Just as they were about to hit, Robin threw himself off the stair, diving into the water and immediately swimming for an exit pipe, Artemis hot on his tail.

They managed to swim up until they were relatively safe in a vent somewhere above the hanger. They were both panting as water dripped off them and, despite almost getting fried, Robin felt himself shiver slightly from the cold air of the pipe.

"So what do we do now?" Artemis asked in between gasps of breaths.

"We save them." Robin replied, determination melded into his words. "That's how it works."

"Maybe that's how it's supposed to work, but those androids already took out our four super powered friends. Not to mention if we're captured, you will be dragged off to whatever this Cadmus thing is that you're not telling me about."

"You seem distraught." Robin smirked. Wally was right, surrender wasn't an option for heroes. At least not until all other options were expended, and even then….

"Distraught? M'gann is dying!" She shrieked. "We have no powers, no communication, and I'm down to my last arrow! Not to mention that I only have half an idea what's going on. Of course I'm distraught."

"Well get traught, or get dead." He started crawling.

"How can you be so calm?" She demanded, following him.

"Practice. I've been doing this since I was nine."

"Hmph. What good is that now?" She was somewhat calmer, now that she'd gotten it out. "What chance do we have about unrelenting machines?"

"Geez Artemis, what happened to tough Assassin Girl who can do…. Duh! They're machines!" Robin stopped and turned around. "And one magnetic pulse will shut down any machine in the area. Knew I was making a good choice keeping you around."

"Shut up."

"So, what do you think?"

"That it's a great idea, lacking everything needed to pull it off, unless you have an EMP emitter in your utility belt."

"Nope, fresh out, but I'm betting we can make one." Robin smirked, putting a finger to his ear. "What do you say, KF, doable?"

"_Totally doable."_ Came the reply.

"_Five minutes." _Android.

"_You know if, we had more time."_ He added.

"Alright, KF, what do we need?" Robin asked, ignoring the last comment.

"Med lab; x-ray machine." He directed as Robin shoved down the vent cover and crawled out into the, thankfully, still intact medical lab. He quickly located the x-ray machine as Kid Flash continued.

"You'll find a small vacuum tube called a vercator that converts high energy pulses."

Robin removed the cover from the machine and plugged in his gauntlet computer.

"Reprogram the units microwave conversion from x-rays to EMPs with the cascading energy factor directing outwards."

Robin stared at the holo display before unplugging the computer carefully removing the vercator.

"I hope you're getting all this," Artemis told him, watching him carefully. "Cause I have no idea what Speedy's babbling on about."

"A ripple effect." Robin exclaimed, ignoring her. "Like dropping a stone in a pond."

"A stone with ten to the twelfth power wattage, yeah." Kid Flash agreed.

"So I'll need to hook it up to the cave's main generator." Robin pulled up a holo display of the vercator .

"Which is where?" Artemis asked, staring at the screen as well.

Robin just smirked at her. "Looks like it's time to pay a visit to our favorite destructive androids."

oOo

Artemis and Robin dropped down out of the vents just as Red Water-bomb was announcing the four minute mark. Robin put his finger to his ear as he pulled out his grappler, the vercator soon to turn EMP emitter clutched tightly in his other arm.

"KF, distraction."

"Hey! Red Tomato!" Came a shout from below them. "Who's your girlfriend, Red Onion?" Wally's laughs could be heard following the question.

"Really, that's the best he's got?" Artemis asked, snorting.

"Oh, and by the way!" This time it was Superboy yelling. "Worst death trap ever!"

"Oh great." Artemis facepalmed.

"We can escape anytime we want!"

"Yeah!" Wally again. "I can vibrate my molecules out of here before your binary brains can count to two."

"Cover me." Robin whispered, hooking the end of his grappler to the wall. "Ah!" He exclaimed, pain suddenly shooting up from his ankle.

"What?" Artemis demanded.

"N-nothing." He replied before stepping off the side and swinging down onto the main generator.

"And you can't drown a Kryptonian, dumb-bots. We don't breathe air!"

Once in position, Robin hooked his gauntlet up to the generator, placing the vercator in position. He quickly began rerouting the power only to find-

"It's not working." His eyes traveled over the vercator. "Circuits incomplete," he muttered. "I need something conductible, a piece of metal or-"

"Robinlookout!"

Robin turned, his eyes widening briefly before a huge wave of water engulfed and sucked him up, preventing him from escaping. He felt the air being shoved out of his lungs, felt his head getting light as his chest started to burn. Maybe if he pretended to drown they'd let him down before he actually did. Black spots started to encompass his vision; bubbles were escaping his mouth as he fought the urge to suck in water. And then he couldn't take it anymore and he breathed in, water gushing into his mouth, his vision fading almost to black. Maybe surrendering was an option… maybe he didn't have a choice.

oOo

Artemis screamed as Robin was raised up in a column of water, his body floating limply in the center, the whites of his mask narrowed to slits showing his eyes were closed. Then he was crudely deposited on the ground in front of the Red's, his body a red spot on the concrete. The archer watched his slight chest, waiting for even the littlest bit of rise or fall, but there was none. He was crumpled in a little, sodden heap, looking smaller than Artemis had ever seen him look. She was struck for perhaps the first time that of all the Team, he was the youngest – considerably so. The youngest and the smallest, though the most experienced, or so he claimed.

And now he was at the mercy of the enemy, unconscious and perhaps drowned, though Artemis wouldn't go there, not yet. She looked around at the Team,_ her_ Team, the Team that had accepted her without question, well, most of them anyway. She looked down at the boy, the boy who had accepted her first, despite knowing who she had been and probably what she had done. The boy that had believed she could change; had set her up with a chance to turn her life around.

And now they were all going to die. They were all going to die and it would be her fault, because she was the only one left.

Artemis drew her knees up to her chest, backing up in the vent, her hands holding her head as she fought the images that threatened to overwhelm her. Robin: gone. Kid Flash: gone. Miss Martian: gone. Superboy and Aqualad: gone. Gone, gone, they were all gone. It was only her; she was the only one left. Just like it always was. She was the only one left; the only one left to suffer alone while all she cared about slipped through her fingers.

"No, no, no, no." She muttered, hugging her legs and burying her face in her knees. No, not again. She didn't want to lose anyone else! She didn't want to go back to how it was. That life, she'd almost escaped it. She'd almost made it out alive. But, of course, that was impossible. She couldn't escape it. Not now, not ever. She was just back where she started; with all she cared about slowly drifting away while she lay there, begging it to not be so.

"Three minutes." Came the Androids voice.

Three minutes. Three minutes until almost everything she cared about was gone. Three minutes until the one person who'd been her first real friend was taken away to some wack-job's lab and experimented on until he too was gone.

Artemis started crawling along the vent, not really caring where she was going or why, only knowing she had to get away. She wasn't paying any attention where she was going and soon found herself tumbling down a slanted vent, her wet hair smacking her face until she fell briefly through open air and then landed with a hard thump on the ground.

She sat up slowly, brushing her hair out of her face as she glanced around. Her eyes locked quickly on the small shelf bearing a collection of odd, unrelated items. The archer got up slowly with a sigh, walking over until she was eyelevel with the cat mask. The smile was less creepy when it wasn't bobbing around and Artemis could almost imagine the face behind the mask smiling back at her. But that thought was quickly overcome when she looked at the eyes of the mask and saw the smile was only an evil, teasing smile. The perfect fit for her sister.

"You would understand, wouldn't you?" She asked, taking the mask in her hands. "If I were to simply run away and save myself. Every girl for herself, right? That's how it works, in our family."

Artemis sighed, setting the mask down and running a hand over her ponytail, feeling all the tangles and bits of ash in it. She gently squeezed out some of the water, letting it run over her hand.

"Our family was pretty messed up, wasn't it?"

Artemis' eyes ran over the other items on the shelf, the memories associated with each, poignant in her mind. She hadn't been around for many, but seeing Doctor Fate's helmet brought back memories of the mission to the tower. She almost smiled, remembering Wally's attempts to impress M'gann by claiming to believe in magic, even though he was the strongest disbeliever she'd met.

She didn't want to lose that. That….

"Family." Artemis whispered the word.

Then her eyes found the arrow – her arrow. The one she'd shot to save Kid Flash from Amazo. New determination filled her body as she reached out and took the arrow, turning back to the mask one more time and whispering:

"That may be how it works in your family, but I've found a new family."

oOo

"I surrender." The words rang out through the giant, flooded room as the archer walked out, her bow held out in front of her with a look of despair on her face. She looked down to her right where Robin lay and saw that the Red's had already begun tie him up, obviously preparing to take him away to wherever their master resided. His arms were yanked behind his back and his gloves and belt lay to the side exposing his small wrists.

In front of her lay Aqualad and Miss Martian, surrounding by a slowly shrinking cage of fire and down below Artemis knew that Kid Flash and Superboy were on their last breath. Now or never.

She held out her bow to the android, her heart beating so insanely fast and loud that she was sure Superboy could hear from where he was. The red, metal hand reached out, ready to grasp the bow but before he could touch it, Artemis leaped up, her right hand reaching into her quiver as she soared over the Reds. She landed on the fire one's hand just as it was about to shoot out a fire ball and used it as a springboard to backflip, drawing her bow and aiming, hoping, praying, that she would hit her target.

The arrow shot straight out, shooting across the distance and lodging itself underneath the makeshift EMP, completing the circuit and sending out a magnetic pulse. As the pulse hit the machines, they both toppled over, the lights of their eyes fading out. As soon as they were out, the fiery cage disappeared and the water quickly receded, leaving Kid Flash gasping for air.

Artemis breathed a sigh of relief which was quickly taken back as Superboy called up:

"Kaldur, how's M'gann?"

Artemis glanced over as Kaldur sat up, M'gann resting in his lap.

"She breathes. I believe she will recover. What of Robin?"

Artemis' eyes got wide as she quickly crawled over to where the acrobat laid, his hair falling in his masked eyes and a small grimace on his face. She slowly reached out, a hand falling on his too-still shoulder. He didn't respond so Artemis hurriedly reached behind him and struggled to untie his bonds, eventually just resorting to cutting them with the small knife she had in her belt.

Once his arms were free, the archer rolled him onto his back, laying his chaffed up hands at his sides. Then she bent over, her head resting on his small chest as she listened for a heartbeat, her own almost making her miss his faint one. Once she knew he was still alive, she reached bent over his mouth, waiting for a tickle of breath on her cheek. Finally she felt the faintest bit of hot air and she sighed in relief before positioning her hands over his abdomen and beginning compressions, thankful Green Arrow had taught them to her.

After three times, Robin made a choking sound before coughing up water. His eyes opened slowly and Artemis sat back in relief, calling back to Kaldur:

"He's breathing."

She watched as the Boy Wonder took a few deep breaths, coughing harshly between them before he turned to look at her.

"I thought… you were gone." Artemis whispered, immediately regretting her words the moment they came out of her mouth.

Robin smirked, struggling to sit up while still coughing.

"It takes more than that to get rid of me." He replied, wincing slightly as he pushed himself up. Artemis reached out and helped him up, her hands resting on his bony shoulders.

"Yeah, well I wasn't sure how long you'd last without someone there to save you." Artemis joked, watching as he gently rubbed his torn wrists, the ropes having obviously been tied far too tight.

"Good thing you were around, then, huh?" Robin laughed, his voice sounding extremely hoarse. "What does this make us; two and two?"

"You wish, Wonder Boy." Artemis rolled her eyes, looking around at her team.

"Hey," Robin said, softer this time. She turned her gaze back on him.

"Wait to get traught."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Phew, long chapter. Next one is really, um, well, I think you will like it.

[1]: According to some sources, Barbara's birthday is September 23.

Thanks for reading and please review if you would so desire! Tell me what you liked, tell me what you don't (yes, I know what I did there), what you want to see more of, etc. And don't forget: 100th reviewer!

Thanks!

Alex out.


	13. Head Above Water

**A/N: **New chapter! Yay! Thanks to all the reviewer and followers and favoriters!

**KaliAnn**: Thank you! I'm glad you liked that!

**READINGhearts17**: Thank you and happy birthday to your bro!

**Bobby Corwen**: 100th reviewer! Wow, once again your review was amazing! Yes, I do love Wally's smarter side as well! I'm glad you enjoy my little add ins. I'm also stoked you noticed Robins injury! Don't forget it! It will return! Muahahaha! And I agree about Artemis; I almost didn't write her breaking down but then it just came to me and turned out great! And I totally agree about what you say about Robin. That's exactly what I'm trying to show in my story - his strength with his weakness. I'm so glad you noticed it! Thank you again and I love your long reviews! Keep thinking up that story idea :).

**Ash9**: Thank you! I am so honored you think so!

**mixxi**: Thanks, and yes, intense!

**ShadowCatAlex**: Thank you! And I don't really ship, but I like Dick and Babs. :)

**SeeSea17**: Thank you!

**Dr. CraneSlaysDemons1234**: Thanks so much! And flirting? Hmmm...

**XxNeonShadows17xX**: Yes! The kidnapping lover! Next chapter (not this one, 13) is for you! And thanks again! I love how you review every chapter!

**Anonymous**: GRUBS! Thank you. :)

**BrightPath**: Wow, thanks! Welcome aboard!

**Tiger Lily Roar**: Thank you so much! I loved your Linchpin story and I love that you read mine! Thanks again!

**Sparrow-DawnUNITE**: haha, thanks! And kidnapping will come, but until then... heeheehee...

Well, here's the new chapter and just quick since I forgot this last time:

_«__Italicized with these two little arrows on the end mean a different language_»__

That is all! Enjoy and thanks for reading!

* * *

><p>The sun was getting low on the horizon, hanging alongside the world as it waited for its act to close and the curtain of darkness fall over its stage as the moon came out for its own performance. Its cast members were many, though of little significance as they were pale, wispy clouds that were stretched thin over the vast, pastel stage. The sun was on the final scene of its act and it was a turning out to be a grand finale. The stage had been painted a thousand hues of pale pink, yellow, orange, red, and purple that would soon fade to pitch darkness, and the audience was good, at least in most cities.<p>

In Gotham, the audience was surprisingly good, contrary to the norm. There was little activity in the shadowy streets of the large, wealthy city, other than that of the standard citizen, but all who were out were entranced by the display put on by the sun and if they weren't, they aren't worth mentioning. It seemed even the crooks and villains of Gotham held respect for the magical display, as the air was absent of the typical sirens and screams. That or they were simply waiting for their favorite scene to make their appearance. A certain young acrobat hoped it was the former.

Robin unconsciously rubbed his wrists which had again been rubbed raw by the thick fibers of a rope, opening up the healing wounds that had been inflicted upon them during the Red attack and then again on the Mayor Hill mission. He was dressed in full superhero garb, though he'd removed his gloves once he'd judged there to be no crime of any sort in the area because they were irritating his torn wrists. The bandages wrapped around them were already stained with blood and he knew he should probably get Bruce to look at them. Along with his ankle….

Robin took in a long, deep breath before letting it out in a sigh, one hand going up to rub his eyes behind his mask. He limped over to the edge of the roof he was perched on, his eyes scanning the growing darkness for the familiar green figure he was waiting for. Figures she'd be late. And probably only because she wanted to annoy him.

Sitting down on the parapet-like wall along the edge of the roof, Robin reached down and gently massaged his ankle, hoping to relieve some of the pain. Ever since he'd twisted in the Red attack, it had been bugging him and he seemed to throw it off again on every mission. Batman hadn't commented on it, though, so Robin assumed it wasn't too bad, but then again, with how Batman had been acting recently, he wouldn't be surprised if he just hadn't noticed. And of course Bruce hadn't noticed because he was never around anymore.

"Didn't know this was a costume party; glad I didn't change."

Robin turned and smiled at the green clad archer who was climbing over the parapet, bow in hand. She was looking slightly worse for the wear, her costume dirty and her hair wild, but she looked better than Robin felt, for which he was glad.

"I never said come 'cognito." Robin replied, straightening up and reaching for his gloves.

"'Cognito?" Artemis raised her eyebrow.

"Yeah," Robin started to pull his gloves on, careful to avoid hurting his bandaged wrists. "Cause _in_cognito is disguised so 'cognito would be as yourself. And I never told you to come as yourself you should only assume I wanted you to come _incognito_."

"O-kay, you lost me before you started." Artemis walked over and sat down beside the acrobat, laying her bow down at her side.

Robin laughed, buckling on his gloves and stretching his fingers, clenching and unclenching his fists until the gloves were comfortable.

"Hey," Artemis said, her voice softer than Robin was used to. "Is your ankle still hurting?"

Robin inwardly tensed; she must have seen him rubbing it.

"Nah, it's fine."

Artemis didn't look convinced but didn't press the matter. Instead she straightened her feet out in front of her, crossing her legs and leaning back on her hands, her eyes staring up at the quickly darkening sky.

"So, I have a feeling you didn't bring me up here to talk about our current monkey mission."

Robin smiled, bringing his feet up and pressing them against the side of parapet so his knees were bent up closer to his chest.

"Nah, though we could take some time to debate the finer points of gorilla culture."

"Um, no." Artemis replied. "Though I would like to know how our all of our current missions have involved giant animals on steroids and brains in high-tech trashcans."

"Yeah, that's one way to put it." Robin laughed.

"But seriously," Artemis continued. "What did you want to talk to me about? I didn't think we were this close."

Robin bit his bottom lip, an old habit he used to have until Batman had drilled it out of him. His doubts about talking to Artemis were starting to come back. But it was too late now, he reasoned, he'd just have to trust his instincts.

"I – it's – it's about the Red attack on the cave." Too late to turn back now. "The League – they aren't making any progress tracking them down and-" Robin cut off, searching for his next words.

"They tried to capture you." Artemis said softly and Robin felt her eyes stray to his wrists where she knew there were bandages. "And you want to know why."

"I know why." Robin sighed, his hands going up to rest on his shoulders. "The same reason that Brain tried to capture me, and Penguin and those masked guys who were trying to find my secret identity."

"Cadmus." It wasn't really a question and Robin didn't really feel like denying it so he simply nodded.

"I've researched Cadmus and from what I can tell, after you, Kid Flash and Aqualad exposed Doctor Desmod, they seem to have cleaned up their act." Robin could tell Artemis was watching his face closely, her eyes narrowed as she waited for the truth.

"Well, it's not really Cadmus." Robin told her, rocking back slightly on his perch. "Whoever it is is just using Cadmus' name. At least, that's what Batman thinks."

Artemis nodded. "But why are you telling me this?"

Robin shrugged, looking down at his knees. "I dunno. Guess I'm just tired of keeping it all to myself, you know? I told Wally too. But really, there's not much to tell. I – _Batman_ – doesn't really know what's going on. The only thing he can get out of the kidnappers is the name Cadmus."

"So, you think by going after the Red's you might find something out?"

Robin shrugged again, his hands going down to grip the edge of the parapet. "Maybe. Right now, it's the only lead we have. If we could track down the Red's, which could be possible considering Red Tornado is with them, or assumed to be, then maybe we would find out where they are reporting to! Which could, in turn, lead us to whoever is behind this."

"So you think we could do something _Batman_ couldn't?" Artemis asked, looking skeptical.

"Maybe. He's been busy trying to crack this Cadmus Case as a whole, and not focusing so much on the individual aspects." Robin leant forward slightly, excitement bubbling somewhere inside of him. "If we could just track the Reds down, I'm betting we'd find who they're working for."

Artemis blinked, a hand going up and playing with her ponytail. "I'm still surprised you told me all of this."

Sighing, Robin looked down at the steel toes of his boots, his body tired as well as his mind. "At this point, I just want it to be over. Batman hasn't really spoken to the League about, though they know somewhat of what's going on. He won't let them help him and I – I almost wish he would. I don't want them knowing what's really going on, because I don't want them to worry, but I-" Robin rubbed his hand across his forehead, unsure how to continue.

"I don't – I don't want everyone to know, because they'd only try to protect me, but Batman won't talk to me about it. I don't want to tell the whole Team, though I'm sure Batman has mentioned something about it to them, but I need someone to know. So in case something happens, or, I don't know. I need someone to trust. I told Wally, but… I wanted you to know too. You've seen what's going on and I think you deserve to know."

When he had finished, Robin was silent, regretting what he'd said and wishing there was a better way to put it. He didn't want to appear weak and unable to handle his own problems, but what he'd said was true. He needed someone to have his back when he was alone, without Batman. He needed someone to know.

The boy glanced up at Artemis and saw she was staring at him, a look on her face that Robin didn't recognize.

"Artemis, I-"

"Thank you."

"Wha-?"

"Thank you, for trusting me."

Robin only nodded, slightly dumbfounded. Their silence lasted for a short time, but Robin expected it was longer than it felt. The sun had finally disappeared behind the horizon and all that was left of it was pale streaks of light on the edge of the sky. Night was slowly descending over the city and Robin could already hear the screams of citizens and the blare of sirens, though they were few, and far away. Ever since the Joker had made his appearance nearly two months ago, things had gone quieter, with common thugs backing off, afraid of angering the crazed psychopath (though Robin knew that they would probably only make him all the happier to see crime running rampant, but maybe they didn't want that either). The Joker hadn't been seen since his first escapade, but everyone knew he was out there somewhere and were cautious all the same.

"So," Artemis finally spoke. "Going after the Reds. You got a plan or you just gonna wing it?"

"Not sure yet." Robin replied. "I have a feeling the Team wants to hunt down the Reds as well, seeing as how strongly everyone feels about the mole and the prospect of Tornado being that mole."

"So, you're gonna suggest it to the Team?"

"Yeah, unless they come up with the idea by themselves."

Artemis nodded.

"Now, about this 'Batgirl'…."

Robin froze.

"I saw you with her on the roof the other night. Something tells me Batman doesn't know about this."

Robin bowed his head slightly, his hands starting to fiddle with his gloves.

Artemis laughed, reaching over and ruffling his hair, Robin's hand quickly moving up to brush the archer's away.

"Does she know? That Batman doesn't know?"

"No. She's actually been asking to meet him a lot recently. And to meet the Team. And to go out on patrol with me."

"Looks like someone's in over their head."

"Probably. But I can handle it. I know how to swim."

"Yeah, but for how long?"

oOo

The basketball hit the ground, the smack echoing around the court as it rebounded back into the air before meeting finger tips and shooting back down. The rhythm was repeated until the ball was lofted into the air, only to meet with Plexiglas and be sent hurtling back to the concrete. But before it could hit the ground, a hand reached up and snatched it out of the air, propelling it forward and sending it back into its previous rhythm. This was repeated over and over, the orange ball traveling across the court in one direction only to be turned around again and again as slowly the sun sunk lower in the sky.

"Uh, yellow."

"Ew, purple, definitely."

"Red. Or blue."

"Superman's colors."

"Yeah, well, I've always been a Superman fan."

"Hah, you'd think living in Gotham would make you a Batman fan."

"Yeah, he's alright too."

Wally just rolled his eyes as he set up for a shot.

"What your favorite superhero, Babs." Dick asked, running to stand around the edge of the hoop to catch Wally's rebound.

"Um, well, I like Black Canary a lot. Cause she's a woman but still kicks butt."

Dick laughed, jumping up and snatching the ball as Wally missed – again.

"What about you, Wally?" Barbara asked her teammate, watching in semi-awe as Dick dribbled the ball down the court and managed to bypass both of them for a score – again.

"Fave superhero?" Wally paused for a moment, the recently scored ball now in his possession. "Grubs."

"Who?" Was the simultaneous reply.

"Uh, um, I mean Flash. Yep, that's who I meant."

Dick gave his best friend a weird look, his hand reaching up and brushing his sweaty bangs out of his eyes. They'd been playing basketball for the past hour, thought the first half had been spent teaching Barbara how to play and reminding Wally that he knew how to play. The latter had probably taking longer as Barbara had caught on fast and was soon as good, if not better, than Wally. Though of course he denied it.

Wally took off down the court, fast, but not super-speed fast, and was soon at the basket again. He faked a shot and then passed to Barbara over Dick's head (the only way he managed to pass around Dick) and she set herself up to shoot. Dick twisted around and watched as she balanced the ball on her right hand and pushed it up into the air, the ball traveling in an arc of orange before it hit the rim and slid through the hoop, landing below and bouncing a couple times before Dick snatched it up again.

"Point for us!" Wally yelled, running over and high-fiving Barbara who was smirking at Dick.

"I think that makes us, what, twenty-five twenty-five?" The girl laughed.

Dick huffed. Despite how many times Wally had missed, Barbara had scored enough times to make up for it, even with Dick scoring as frequently as he did.

"We're taking you down, dude!" Wally laughed, pulling on his Keystone High t-shirt to cool himself off. It was nearly October and hence was cooler outside, but the three teenagers were all dressed in shorts and t-shirts.

"We're tied, Wally." Dick reminded him, casually dribbling the ball.

"Really? I thought we were losing. We're taking you down even more than I thought!" Wally laughed, practically bouncing on his toes.

Dick rolled his eyes as he set off down the court again, the ball flying before him, touching the ground and his hand for only brief moments, suspended in the air the majority of the time. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Wally and Barbara on either side of him, racing to keep up with him or in Wally's case, forcing himself to slow down.

As Dick neared the hoop, he skidded to a halt and in one motion balanced the ball on his fingertips and propelled himself up in the air, his hand flicking forward as the ball lifted off – only to be batted down by a larger, pale hand.

"Too short!" Wally yelled, already skirting around his best friend and following the red-haired girl with the ball down the court.

Dick scowled, pivoting and running after them, his ankle giving a painful twinge as he twisted on it. It was better than it had been, but still hurt him sometimes and he was beginning to worry he'd done something serious to it and that it had healed wrong. But then again it had never really given him enough pain to constitute for a serious injury, so he just brushed it off as best he could and hoped that it would get better.

"New question!" Wally suddenly announced, his body in position around the hoop for the unlikely event of Barbara missing.

"Another one?" Barbara asked, briefly glancing at the other red-head before lofting the ball up and into the hoop.

"Woop!" Wally cheered, catching the ball as it dropped and passing it the younger boy. They were really getting good.

"Yeah, another one." The speedster continued. "I still don't know everything little thing about you." He smiled alluringly at her, but more in a joking way than anything.

Barbara raised an eyebrow at Wally and gave him a warning look, but again, more in a joking way. At least, Dick hoped so. He still wasn't sure why he'd wanted to hang out with Wally and Barbara at the same time, seeing as there were so many things that could slip out, but he had and the only reason he could come up with was that he was sick of his life being so split up. He supposed he'd wanted to try to put it together somewhat.

Not to mention he'd been able to hang out with Barbara very little as Dick, seeing as they were both busy hanging out with each other's alter ego. Robin had to be distant and aloof around Batgirl to avoid his secret identity coming out so it wasn't anywhere near the same as them hanging out as civilian and Dick was beginning to miss. And with Bruce unaware that Wally knew his secret identity (but he probably was aware, somewhere deep down in his Bat-sense) he only ever got to see Wally when they were doing superhero stuff, so again he missed them just hanging out as friends.

And with Wally and Barbara hitting off so well, he considered his attempt a success.

"Okay, I've got one," Dick announced, casually dribbling the ball in fancy maneuvers that had Barbara and Wally's jaws dropping. "What do you think of Wally's shoes? Cause I think they're anomalous."

"Hey!" Wally exclaimed, subconsciously glancing down at his feet. "Wait, what does that mean?"

Dick laughed, glancing down to look at Wally's bright yellow and red shoes – if one could even call them that. They looked like gloves for feet, with separated areas for each toe and very little material surrounding the foot. From a distance, one would almost think Wally had painted his feet yellow and red.

"Um, no comment..." Barbara said, running her hand over her pony-tail. "They're just… weird."

"Told you people think they're weird." Dick laughed again, throwing the ball over his shoulder and then handspringing after it, flipping over it and landing behind it to catch it perfectly.

"Hey! No acrobatics in basketball!" Wally exclaimed, pointing at the younger boy.

Dick just stuck his tongue out and ran the rest of the court before jumping forward so he landed on his hands, which were still holding the ball, and propelled himself into the air, flipping until he grabbed onto the rim and dropped the ball in.

"Tweet tweet!" Wally yelled, running over waving his hands. "Penalty!"

"Jealous much?" Dick asked, pulling himself up until he was perched on the rim of the basketball hoop, his legs dangling over the side.

"Am not!" Wally argued, running over and jumping up, his hands reaching for Dick's ankles. Dick tried to kick him away, crawling backwards as best he could. Eventually Wally managed to latch on his best friends left leg and yanked him down, only to have Dick push off his chest and flip backwards, causing the redhead to land on his butt.

"Owned!" Dick snickered, extending his hand to help the older boy up. Wally grabbed the offered hand, only to jerk it towards him, causing the smaller boy to fly forward into the redhead's chest. Wally tackled him to the side and they both commenced in what Dick knew Barbara would consider 'childish antics' – in other words, trying to pin the other down and nearly suffocating themselves in the process.

"Boys." Dick heard Barbara mutter to herself as she walked casually down the court, the basketball in her possession.

Once Barbara had managed to break the two boys apart after they'd commenced in a name-calling session which was a fail on both ends (such insults as 'Ginger bread' and 'Chicken legs' were tossed around, just to give one an idea of how bad it was (but in defense, Dick had kind of lost it after 'chicken legs': he so did not have _that_ skinny of legs)) the basketball game had started up again as had the question game, courtesy of 'Ginger bread'.

"Oo, oo! I got a good one!" Wally bounced, tossing the basketball to Dick. "How about: what was your first pet?"

"Um, I've never really had a pet." Dick said as he scored again, this one a three pointer.

"What about that elephant?" Wally asked.

"Well, it wasn't really a pet…."

"That was a terrible question, Wally." Barbara told him, catching the ball and holding it under her arm.

"Fine." Wally crossed his arms. "What's yours?"

"Qualities you think make a hero."

Wally's mouth opened slightly. "Ummm…."

"Come one," Barbara prompted. "You've never thought about it before?"

"I dunno," The fifteen-year-old confessed. "I guess I have, but not really in concrete terms."

"What about you, Dick?" Barbara asked, passing the ball to Wally.

"Well…." Dick scrunched up his face in concentration. Sure, he'd thought of the question before, but never really, like Wally said, in concrete terms. And he'd never really thought of it in any way that would make sense in answer to a question like that. He'd always thought about it more in terms of what he wanted to be like and what he admired in Batman. But again, never in specific words – at least not in English. He also couldn't help wondering why Barbara would spring that question and the connection it made to Batgirl.

As he thought about how to answer, he was suddenly faced with… doubt? His thoughts didn't seem as clear as they always had about heroes and what made them a hero. It almost… scared him.

"I-"

"Master Richard, Master Bruce called and wished to speak to you." Dick's head swiveled around at the sound of Alfred's voice.

The butler stood framed in the doorway, one eyebrow slightly raised as he no doubt took in the scene before him, and Dick silently sighed in relief knowing full well that Alfred wouldn't mention Wally's presence to Bruce. It was one of their silent agreements that Dick had no idea how he got away with. He assumed Alfred just felt sorry for him and his lack of friends, but he didn't complain.

"I'll be right back, guys." Dick said over his shoulder, following Alfred into the mansion.

Once they were inside Alfred gave Dick a rather strange look before heading towards the living room and the old clock that was the entrance to the Batcave. The butler spun the hands to the correct time before stepping back and allowing Dick to slip into the elevator. He rode down in silence, Alfred having left to go back to whatever he'd been doing before, as thoughts played on repeat through his head of what Bruce would want to talk to him about. Once the elevator reached the bottom, Dick walked hesitantly over to the Batcomputer where Bruce's face was displayed, his cowl resting on his shoulders.

"Hey." Dick sat down in the chair in front of the computer, the large size nearly swallowing him up. "So, what's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I may be a little later than expected." Bruce looked intentionally at his ward. "The League needs help cleaning up."

Dick nodded, a small pit of anger slowly forming in his stomach that he tried to fill in.

"Do you want me to patrol tonight?" Dick asked, struggling to sit on his knees to get a better view.

"No, actually I was going to tell you to stay home. I don't want you out by yourself with criminals out for your blood." Though Bruce's facial expression didn't change, Dick could see the tightening of the muscles in his jaw.

"Bruce, I can take care of myself." Dick knew argument was useless but some part of him wanted to try anyway.

"I know, but I don't want to risk it. Not with me so far away."

"You don't trust me." The accusation slipped out before Dick could stop it.

"Richard," Bruce's gaze hardened. "I do trust you, but-"

"But only sometimes," Dick growled, his eyes narrowing. "Only with easy things, and only when you're around to make sure I don't mess up." Dick didn't know what he was saying and why, but the arguments came fast and furious, flying out of his mouth like a caged animal finally set free. He wanted to stop, to say he didn't mean it, but his body wasn't obeying.

"No." Bruce raised his hand to halt his wards verbal bullets of indictment. "No, that's not true and you know it. I trust you always; I trust you with my life. But I don't trust Gotham and the criminals who want you captured. I need you to understand this."

Dick took a deep breath, looking down at his knees, his face riddled with shame.

_«__I do.__»_ He nodded, hands tugging unconsciously at the hem of his shirt.

"What?"

Dick looked up, confused for a second before understanding.

"I, uh, sorry, I said I do understand."

"Good," Bruce smiled slightly, nodding. "I'll see you soon."

"Kay."

And then the screen went blank and Dick was left alone in the Batcave with only his thoughts for company. His extremely unruly thoughts.

_«Get a hold of yourself, Grayson,» _He muttered, climbing out of Bruce's chair and slowly heading for the elevator. _«You're better than this. _Bruce_ expects you to be better than this….You - _I_ have to be better than this….»_

oOo

"_So, once again, you failed." _

"_I am sorry, sir." _

"_Save your sniveling for Hood. He benefits more from it, anyway." _

"_Of course, sir." _

"_So, do you know what our next course of action will be? What my next brilliant plan that you will no doubt manage to ruin is?"_

"_No, sir." _

"_I knew I should have gotten a mind-reader. Much more useful for when you forget things. But our next course of action, my dear scientist, is to call out our own League. Or more correctly, take advantage of someone else's League. The Injustice League, to be precise." _

"_So you are following through with this plan, then." _

"_Yes, Hood, I am. While the Light plays their little distraction card, I've got enough of the Injustice League working for my pocketbook, which means all I have to do is sit back and wait." _

"_So I take it you aren't going to attempt anything on his secret identity?" _

"_No. Now that I know who he really is, I don't want to draw unnecessary attention to us and our project, which kidnapping his secret identity would no doubt do. The press and all that. No, I want it to be a surprise. And a nasty one at that." _

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Thanks so much for reading! Please review and tell me your thoughts!_  
><em>

Next chapter is super intense and I think you all will love it! It's like, crazy intense (at least I think...)

Thanks again! All reviews are, of course, appreciated and loved!

Alex out.


	14. Pain of the Unrelenting Sort

**A/N: **Hello! So, I feel like it's been awhile….

I got a bunch of reviews last chapter, so thank you very much!

**Dr. CraneSlaysDemons1234: **You never fail to review right away! Thank you very much! And I like that you see it as flirting. I feel like Robin can unintentionally flirt at times…. Not saying that anything will come of it, though…. ^^

**Masqueraded Angel: **Cool name! And thank you.

**ShadowCatAlex: **Surrounds himself with gingers! Love it!

**KaliAnn: ** Thank you and I agree. I mean, why not confide in an ex-assassin?

**Bobby Corwen: **Thanks again for the amazing long review! Yesh, Supey the caveman…. Nice ring. I'm glad you liked the metaphor! I like those things too. And yes, with Wally, things like that can tend to go in one brain out the other. You are right, it's not good. Something is up with Rob. It gets worse, don't worry.

**Brightpath2: **Oh Hoodie, you gotta love him.

**READINGhearts17: **Too true!

**XxNeonShadows17xX: **Yes, oh kidnapping lover, this chapter is for you. Thank you for the awesome long review too! Glad you liked the mini-fight. I'll just say this: things gotta get worse before they get better.

**Anonymous: **Yes, Grubs is amazing.

**Kelly1432: **Well I'm glad! Gotta love the Hood!

**Guest: **Thank you!

**Guelio: **Cool name! Thank you and welcome! And yes, Dick was speaking Romany to Bruce when he said "I do" and Bruce couldn't understand him because he doesn't speak the language (though I'm sure he could learn if he thought it would help).

**Ravienetta: **Well, thank you very much!

**Guest: **Glad you feel that way!

**Leradomi: **Now you don't have to! And thank you for messaging about my other story as well.

**potter4me: **Thank you thank you thank! And now you are my friend! Cuz I updated.

Alrighty then! Here's the next intense chapter I promised! Enjoy and thank you!

* * *

><p>"Yah!"<p>

"Good try, my friend."

_Swoosh!_

"You'll have to be faster than that to catch me!"

Robin handspring-ed backwards, landing in a crouch, hands raised, only to somersault to the left as Kaldur's fist came hurtling towards his head. The acrobat rolled to his feet, charging the Atlantean. He spun around, arm outstretched, headed for the broad chest before his fist was caught and his body was shoved backwards. He stumbled, quickly rolling out of the way before the older teen could land a hit while he was off balance.

"Your moves are impressive." Kaldur commented, changing the direction of his attack as the younger boy rolled away.

"Right back at ya!" Robin smirked, getting to his feet and exchanging a few blows with the older boy until he managed to send Kaldur flipping backwards.

"One would not expect such force from someone so young." The Atlantean continued, rushing forward and landing a light blow to Robin's shoulder, only to have his hand kicked aside and his balance nearly lost.

"Yeah, well," Robin panted slightly, still smiling. "I wouldn't have pegged you as the acrobatic type either."

"My king," The older boy turned just in time to block a fist to the head. "-Insisted I learn multiple types of hand-to-hand combat, as the surface world seems proficient in many."

Robin jumped around Kaldur, dodging hits and kicks as he watched for an opening.

"Some people are." The acrobat agreed. "But most just go for the good old boxing technique. You know, just keep punching until one of you is knocked out."

Robin rushed forward, spinning around and kicking, his leg heading for Kaldur's chest. The older boy dodged, but Robin followed through with a left hook that nearly nailed the Atlantean in the chin.

"Boxing?" Kaldur asked, spinning out of the way of Robin's fist, retaliating with a punch of his own.

"Yeah, you never heard of boxing?" Robin dodged the punch, ducking under it and sending his fist up at Kaldur's face.

"I am afraid I have not." The older boy admitted, leaning backwards to avoid the attack and then coming forward again with an elbow aimed for Robin's head.

Robin ducked and somersaulted through Kaldur's legs. Rising to his feet, he handspring-ed away, coming up a few feet from the Atlantean.

"You're not missing much." Robin assured the older boy before rushing forward and executing a roundhouse kick. "It's just basically a bunch of huge guys pummeling each other with giant red gloves."

"I see." Kaldur frowned, catching Robin's ankle and kicking him backwards.

Robin growled to himself, twisting in midair and landing in a crouch a good distance away. Why could everyone block his kicks so easily? Well, not everyone, but anyone with super strength.

"Ask Wally about it." Robin readied himself as Kaldur rushed him. "I think he's pretty into it."

"From your description," Kaldur entered into a series of complex attacks. "I do not find myself particularly intrigued."

"Yah," Robin struggled to block and dodge the barrage of fists flying at him. Seeing an opening, the acrobat leaped forward, planting his hands on the older boy's shoulders and kicking himself up and over his larger opponent. He landed stealthily and wasted no time in reengaging Kaldur, this time on his own terms.

"Yeah, you'd probably be more interested in the Discovery Channel." Robin decided, twisting and attempting to kick Kaldur's legs out from underneath him. He wasn't succeeding.

"Hey, does Atlantis even have television?" He asked, ducking behind the older boy and throwing a punch at his back.

"We have something similar to it," Kaldur flipped forward, avoiding Robin's fist. "Though we do not use it often, as it is considered outdated."

"Cool!" Robin exclaimed, cartwheeling away as Kaldur attempted a complicated aerial maneuver that was supposed to end with the younger boy pinned to the ground, but instead ended with Kaldur nearly losing his balance.

Robin cackled, hopping away before reengaging, twisting and flipping around the older boy, his mind racing, trying to come up with an unexpected move that would land Kaldur on the floor.

"You'll have to take me there someday." The acrobat announced, his fist hitting a large arm. "Atlantis," he clarified, ducking a high kick before retaliating with one of his own. "Batman told me how advanced the tech is there and I've been asking him to take me, but he never has."

"You've never been to Atlantis?" Kaldur asked, sounding somewhat surprised. "My king has told me about times where your mentor has come to assist him in a battle and I assumed you would have come as well."

"Nope," Robin sighed, both hands going up to block a two-way attack from his teammate. "Never been allowed to come; I was too young last time he went. Which is why _you_ should take me sometime!"

Kaldur smiled, flipping out of the way of a kick from the younger boy. "Perhaps I shall, sometime."

oOo

"_Miss Martian, Robin, complete the mission. We will hold them off."_

Robin winced as the voice cut through his thoughts, not helping his impending headache. He was having a hard enough time focusing today without voices echoing in his head every minute. It wasn't like he could do anything about it, though, but it was nice to be able to secretly complain and blame something else for his absentmindedness.

The mission was far from simple, he knew that, and normally he'd rejoice in the opportunity to prove himself in the field against big opponents, but just not today. Any other day would be perfectly fine with him, except today. Again, mindless complaining that he really had to stop doing, but he blamed the headache. His thoughts were already wandering painfully and he knew it was a distraction and a danger, especially with other people in his head, but he couldn't seem to focus himself. After his sparring match with Kaldur, his mental control had gone haywire.

Robin carefully and expertly melted into the background of trees, disappearing completely from view and he saw Miss Martian turning invisible, most likely heading for the forest as well. Robin quickly scaled the nearest tree, shaking his head to try to clear his mind as it threatened to wander, once again, back to events of the previous day. They mostly just involved Batman and Cadmus, and Batman talking about Cadmus and Cadmus and Batman dancing to the Blues under the – mind wandering. Bad.

It was all mostly about how the evil villain behind all these dastardly plots was offering more than money and probably world destruction slash domination blah blah blah. The typical stuff. But that wasn't important right now. Right now Robin had to focus on the League of Baddies that was trying to take over the world with giant, killer plants on steroids. Focus Robin, focus.

"_Miss M, where are you?" _Robin asked telepathically, careful to block the rest of his thoughts from rushing into the conversation as well.

"_I'm right in front of you."_ Miss Martian replied. _"I sense something up ahead; a strong force of some sort."_

Robin sped up, nimbly hopping from one branch to another before dropping to the ground as Miss Martian became visible again. Through the leaves Robin could just make out something… some sort of dome. He peered closer, switching his mask's vision to help with the poor lighting. Upon closer inspection, Robin could see plants sticking out of the dome, which was glowing a weird greenish color and appeared to be made of glass panels. Definitely the base they were looking for.

"_I lost contact with Aqualad and the others." _Miss Martian announced, her face turned to Robin worry. _"Should we go-"_

Robin took a deep breath before replying: _"Sorry, but that's not the gig." _It's what Batman would say. _"This is." _

He reached out and pulled aside some vines to reveal the giant sports-like dome with huge plants sticking out of the top.

"_Their central command center," _Robin smirked lightly. "_I'm betting that giant plant is being used as an antenna to control all the other plants worldwide. Clever, but not really so much. We take down this plant, we take down all the plan-"_

The acrobat whirled around at the sound of the twig snapping.

"Well, look who is." A woman dressed scantily in a green outfit stood smirking down at the two heroes. "The Boy Wonder and a Martian girl."

"Poison Ivy," Robin growled. Normally he would've proceeded to laugh at how cliché he sounded, but at that moment he just really wanted to finish the mission and go home, preferably leaving his headache behind.

Robin reached for a batarang but before he could, he felt a thick vine whip around his body, successfully immobilizing him and then lifting him bodily off the ground. His body immediately starting fighting against the vice-like grip of the plant: his natural reflexes taking over as he tried anything to free himself. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Miss Martian doing the same, though her actions looked more typical of a mental attempt at freeing herself than a physical one.

A whirring sound suddenly filled the air and Robin froze, his eyes darting up to the origin of the sound, widening when he found himself staring at the barrel of a giant gorilla's gun. Artemis was right about the monkey thing. The acrobat's body went into overdrive as the impending shot loomed nearer. His ears picked up the sound of the trigger being pulled and he closed his eyes for the impact when suddenly he was falling through the air with Poison Ivy's screeches resounding in his ears.

Robin hit the ground hard, pain shooting up his ankle as his nearly healed injury returned with a vengeance. Gasping in pain, he wasted no time in flitted back into the trees and away from the angry vines and their psychotic mother.

"_Robin! Are you all right?" _

Robin winced as Miss Martian's worried voice cuts into his head.

"_Yeah, fine, just landed wrong, that's all." _

He thought he heard her beginning to say something else, but whatever it was cut off and he assumed the vines had caught up to her. Moving fast, Robin headed deeper into the forest, parallel to the Injustice League's base in the direction he hoped the Martian had taken.

_Slam!_

Robin leaped back, barely avoiding getting clubbed by vine. His eyes swiveled around, quickly finding where Miss Martian was flying through the trees, flickering between being visible and not. Another vine whistled past his peripheral vision and he leaped over it, taking off running into the trees after his teammate.

They had to lose Poison Ivy if they were going to get a chance at destroying the base, not to mention they still hadn't received any contact from the rest of the Team and Robin couldn't help fearing the worst. His ankle throbbed as his feet pounded the ground and trees as he nimbly dashed through the forest, leaping every which way to avoid flailing plants. One good thing had come of this though: his thoughts were finally starting to order themselves and he could found himself abler to focus on not dying.

A tree exploded to Robin's left and he heard the familiar sound of Ultra-Humanite's gun firing up again for another shot. They had to end this and get to the base. Robin leaped over an oncoming plant, flipping off it and into a nearby tree, landing precariously on a branch before springing off and sliding down another vine.

"_Kind of like a jungle gym." _Robin thought, smirking.

"_What?"_

"_Uh, nothing." _ He answered quickly. Stupid mind-link.

Pausing on a tree branch, Robin flipped around and sent two batarangs flying at Poison Ivy, followed by exploding disks that landed on her plants. He grinned as her shrieks again filled the air and he launched himself off the branch. He caught another in mid-air with his hands and flipped around it once before releasing and letting his momentum carry him into another plant. He planted a small disk bomb on it as he leaped away, running before he hit the ground.

"You're burning my babies!" Poison Ivy yelled, anger flowing through her words.

"No offense, but you make a pretty sucky mother!" Robin shot back, dodging another vine aimed at his head.

"Why you-!"

The acrobat cackled, another exploding disk causing the end of a vine to writhe in agony. Watching, Robin couldn't honestly see what she saw in the plants. They were ugly and smelled terrible. If that's what she thought babies were like, he pitied her mother.

_Swoosh!_

"Aah!" Robin yelled in pain as something heavy slammed into his chest followed by a ripping sound as something sharp tore through his Kevlar vest and sliced the skin underneath. He hit the ground hard, landing in a muddy puddle as the breath shot out of his body. Water soaked through his cape and tunic and hit the skin underneath and he felt something warm and sticky on his chest.

"_Robin!" _He heard Miss Martian scream.

Fighting against the flashing lights threatening to overcome his vision, Robin pushed himself into a sitting position, his hand going to his chest as he tried to take in air. His fingers brushed over the tears in his tunic, his gloves soaking up the blood from his torn chest. Judging from the amount of blood the size the gashed felt, he didn't think they were too deep, but they stung and Robin hoped that Poison Ivy's vines weren't poisoned. Wait, Poison Ivy, poison….

"_Robin, are you okay?" _Miss Martian was at his side, her eyes fearful.

"_Y-yeah, I think so." _He managed to get to his feet with Miss Martian's help, wincing as his chest stretched.

"_Robin, you're bleeding!"_

"_It's fine, nothing major. We need to get out of here and find the others - er, the ba – look out!"_

Robin through himself at the Martian as a giant vine hit the ground where they'd been standing. Robin rolled out of the way, shooting to his feet again as Miss Martian flew up out of harm's way.

"_The bio-ship has made contact!" _She suddenly exclaimed.

"_Great! Tell it find the others." _Robin ordered, taking a deep breath before beginning to run. His chest burned as he ran but if the vines had been poisoned, it was slow acting and Batman would have the cure. And if the cuts weren't too deep, it would take even longer to get into his blood stream.

"_We need to get out of the woods." _He continued, glancing quickly behind him. _"Otherwise we'll overshoot the base." _

"_Right." _

They both veered the left, breaking through the underbrush at the woods edge. The sight that greeted their eyes was of the bio-ship knocking down a giant, glowing, golden cage filled with their team. Robin silently sighed in relief, watching briefly as the Team got up and looked ready to engage with Count Vertigo and his villain ensemble. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Miss Martian looking like she was ready to engage as well.

"_Miss M, the base!" _

"_Oh, right." _

"_Follow me." _

As they ran towards the base Robin was glad to see the villains busy, with the Joker most likely inside the dome. Once they reached the edge, the acrobat wasted no time in firing his grappling gun at the top of the dome, letting it pull him up, the cuts on his chest burning in silent agony. Miss Martian levitated up beside him.

Once perched on the top, Robin dug through his belt and began pulling out explosives, the strong kind, and handed some to Miss Martian instructing her:

"_Place these all along the plant – I'll direct you where." _

oOo

Artemis sprang off Kaldur's hands, flipping in midair before nailing Poison Ivy in the face. They both crashed to ground, the muddy water squelching underneath them as they landed. Artemis stood up and was about to drive another kick at the stupid plant lady's face when a vine came whistling in from the right and the archer was forced to dive away to avoid being smashed.

"Ugh, this is stupid." Artemis muttered, once again reaching behind her back, only find the lack of weapons. "Where's the League when you need them?"

Dodging another plant projectile, Artemis glanced around, her eyes scanning the gloom for the familiar flash of red. Where had Robin gotten off to? There was a thump to her left and the archer spun around – just in time to see Kid Flash crash into a tree before collapsing in the mud. Artemis ducked under a vine before sprinting through the slosh towards the fallen speedster. She was intercepted by a certain crazed gorilla before she reached him.

"Great, not you again," Artemis grumbled, dodging a blast from his giant gun. She managed to slip under the weapon and attempted to deliver a kick to his jaw. His hand shot out, though, and grabbed her foot before Artemis felt herself flying through the air. She twisted around and again reached for her non-existent bow. Scowling, she hit the ground, nearly slipping in the muck.

"Aqualad!" Artemis shouted, looking around for their leader. "This isn't wor- okay, never mind." She finished, watching as the Atlantean was hurled into a tree before hit upside the head with Ultra-Humanite's gun.

"Ugh, Robin, where are you?" Artemis dodged another vine as she once again scanned the area for her teammate. "Now would be a good time to blow something up."

_Boom!_

Artemis jumped and spun around, her eyes quickly finding the bright flashes from explosives. The plant sticking out of the giant dome was exploding, fiery balls of light flashing along its length. Looking up, Artemis saw Robin and Miss Martian perched in the midst of the inferno, their arms crossed and looking very intimidating. Probably Robin's idea.

As the explosions finally died down, leaving nothing but the withered, ashy remains of the vine, Artemis saw movement from the dome and soon two figures appeared. One the archer recognized immediately, Gotham's resident psycho clown, and the other looked like a freeze dried corpse in a pilot's suit. Neither very friendly looking characters to be sure.

Poison Ivy, looking very upset over the death of her ugly, oversized baby, sent two vines shooting towards Robin and Miss Martian, but thankfully the latter shredded them to bits quickly. She got shot by Captain Corpse immediately after but still, she deserved recognition. Robin, of course, leaped down after her, but Artemis couldn't help notice something off about the way he moved. Watching closer, she noticed he was avoiding putting too much weight on his right ankle, his previously injured one, and was holding his chest in a pained way. Not a good sign.

Forgetting about the rest of the battle, Artemis starting moving towards where her youngest teammate was. She never got there, though, as the pilot corpse guy started shooting at her with his brain rays or whatever they were. Artemis was forced to retreat back towards the rest of the Team, but she could see the Joker making his way over to where Robin was, a knife in hand, smiling gleefully.

Artemis's eye's widened in fear. Ever since Robin had nearly drowned during the Red's attack, Artemis had begun to realize how much he actually meant to her. He wasn't the annoying, prying, invasive, immature little brat – well, actually he still was – but Artemis found she didn't mind as much. Or at least she'd learned to accept that he would forever be annoying and she'd have to deal with it or move to another planet. The point was, Artemis found herself caring about him. Gross, right?

Honestly, she hadn't felt this way since, well, she didn't know when. Her last real friend had been Jade, before she'd left and ever since then, the archer had stopped trusting people. Stopped loving people. It wasn't worth being hurt over, was it? She still wasn't really sure about the answer to that question, but she knew that, beyond doubt, Robin was her friend. What had happened between them to make it that way, she didn't really know, but something happened and somehow he'd managed to penetrate her thick assassin skin. Either he'd found a weakness or had a weapon strong enough to overcome it.

Now, seeing the maddest criminal in Gotham, fresh from a stay at Arkham Asylum, advancing towards Robin with a sinister look in his eye, awakened something in Artemis. Some sort of protective, beast-like rage that made her want to rip the psycho limb from limb if he laid a hand on the boy. It surprised the archer, to be sure, but she decided to take it in a stride and worry about if she was losing it later. Surging forward, Artemis made a charge for the Joker, but creepo corpse man got in the way and Artemis was forced to abandon her attempts and instead fight for her life. Or very nearly so.

oOo

"Ah!" Robin gasped, the cuts in his chest stinging painfully as he struggled to avoid the Joker's knife. The mad clown was laughing gleefully, swinging his weapon this way and that, vacillating as if in a dance. A cruel, sick dance.

"Now here's one little bird I've been waiting to carve." The Joker giggled, lunging forward and nearly slicing Robin's arm off.

Robin flipped backwards, landing in the murky water and nearly losing his balance. His ankle was killing him, the pain slowly eating away at his ability to stay standing. It couldn't have been that badly injured, as he was still standing and nothing felt off, but it hurt like crazy.

"Hmmhmm, you're so slippery!" The madman laughed, dancing forward in the water, waving his weapon like a baton.

Robin dodged a jab to the stomach and another to his shoulder, but he could feel the poison slowing him down, delaying his reflexes and causing his vision to begin to blur. Not a welcome addition to the ever-lingering headache he'd been suffering. The Joker swung out a foot at the acrobat, perhaps hoping to trip him, and Robin was forced to jump, bending to the right to avoid the knife. He landed, careful to take the majority of the impact on his left leg, but the Joker must've seen this as he threw himself at the boy and sent Robin tumbling into the mud.

Groaning silently, Robin pushed himself up, only to drop back down and roll to the left to avoid a downward slash of the knife. His chest was aching now, making him want to stay lying in the cool, muddy water.

_Pull it together, Grayson. _He growled in his head, careful to keep his thoughts private from the rest of the Team. _Get out of this and then you can take a mud bath. _

Taking a deep breath, Robin forced his arms to take his weight and he flipped over, landing upright, panting. The knife immediately came soaring towards him and Robin ducked. Straightening, the acrobat jumped upwards and planted his hands on the Joker's shoulders, flipping over behind the clown. Robin spun around rapidly and almost managed to plant a kick on the madman's back, but was forced to retreat as the Joker was quicker than he looked.

"Aren't we getting talented," He smiled, pausing in his attacks for a moment. "Much more so than when we last met. Then again, it's been awhile, hasn't it?"

Robin didn't say anything, too busy trying to catch his breath and clear his vision.

"Shame you aren't in top condition," Joker continued, twirling his knife between his fingers. "Our dance has such potential! Imagine what a finale we could throw."

"Sorry to disappoint," Robin panted, struggling to stand up straighter, his arm resting on his burning chest.

"I am rather disappointed. I've heard such good things about you; I've been wanting to see how we match up. I'll have to talk to Ivy about this."

The Joker was still smiling, beginning to slowly circle the acrobat like a predator to its prey. Robin's eyes narrowed as he waited for the man to make his move. He still hadn't decided whether Joker was after him for Cadmus or whether he simply wanted to kill him. From the sound of his, uh, speeches, he wasn't really after either, but from what Robin knew about the clown, he was a killer simply for the fun of being a killer. He wanted fun in everything he did and little else really appealed to him.

"Hmm," Joker tapped his chin, lightly tossing his knife in the air. "I think I'll cut you up nice and slowly, bit by bit. Savor the moment, you know?"

"So, you don't want to pack me up and ship me to 'Cadmus' or whoever these guys are?" Robin asked, his eyes following the blades path through the air.

"Oh no, I'm not really a gun for hire type of guy." Here the madman laughed, stroking the blade with his long fingers. "And besides, scientists don't really appeal to me, you know? All their meddling with insides and stuff: not very amusing if you catch my drift."

Robin let out a half sigh of relief, glad at least that he wasn't facing yet another kidnapping attempt. Though of course that meant Joker had nothing stopping him from murdering Robin on the spot.

"Well, our little chat's getting old. I say we get on with it, eh?" The Joker flipped his knife in the air once more before bringing it down at Robin's face.

Robin flipped backwards, avoiding the weapon, but was immediately forced to dodge again. The Joker was moving faster now, slashing left and right, up and down, following the acrobat wherever he went, giving him no room to retaliate. The boy attempted to throw several batarangs at the clown but each was easily batted away with the knife and Robin could feel his strength waning. He knew he had to end this, and quickly, if he wanted to make it out at all.

Flipping backwards, Robin lined himself up with a tree, preparing himself for the Joker's next attack. The came knife as expected and Robin jumped up out of the way, leaning backwards before bringing his legs around into a backflip. He hit the tree with his feet and pushed off, hurtling towards his adversary. At first, Robin thought his idea would work, but then the Joker's face lit up in a smile and he jumped up, knife pointed upwards towards Robin's chest.

The young hero's eyes widened and he struggled to twist in midair to avoid the oncoming blade. He managed to dodge a sure hit to his chest, but was thrown off balance and when he tried to land, he heard a small crack and his ankle screamed in pain. Robin collapsed to the ground, landing heavily in the muddy water, his ankle throbbing. The boy's eyes widened as he saw the Joker advancing towards him, knife glinting in the fading light and he prepared himself for the inevitable when –

_Shink._

Joker's knife was sent spinning away into the gloom of the forest as a dark figure descended from the trees and landed between Robin and the clown. Robin nearly gasped in relief as Batman descended from above and began herding the Joker back towards the clearing. The Dark Knight shot a look at Robin, the hard lines on his face conveying his worry, but he had to quickly divert his attention back to the Joker as the clown began retaliating. Batman was forced to pursue the Joker as he headed back towards the clearing, but he shot Robin one last look before he disappeared into the gloom.

Once his mentor and the villain were gone, Robin levered himself up on his elbows, managing to get into a sitting position. He noticed with a rather dulled surprise that his chest had stopped burning. He knew it couldn't be a good sign, but, he reasoned, maybe the pain from his ankle was just dulling all else in comparison.

"Robin!"

Robin looked up, his head feeling rather fuzzy. There was a rather blurry, green figure running towards him, something long and blonde swinging behind her.

"Artemis?"

oOo

When Artemis finally reached Robin, he was sitting up and looking at her with a rather dulled look on his face. His hair was wet and muddy and hanging in face and his clothes were soaked. His tunic was torn open in three long gashes revealing cuts in his paler-than-normal skin underneath and blood was slowly oozing out. His mask was set in such a way that he looked confused and Artemis's first thought was poison.

"Robin," She said softly. "Robin! What happened? Are you okay?"

"Artemis…." He paused, panting and squeezing his eyes shut as his face screwed up in either concentration or pain. "Artemis I, Joker-"

"Batman's taking care of him."

"I know!" He snapped, looking frustrated but still dazed.

"It's – I-"

"Are those cuts from Poison Ivy?" Artemis demanded, kneeling down beside him as she began rummaging through her belt, hoping Count Vertigo hadn't searched that as well.

"Y-yeah." Robin panted slightly, watching her movements. "Poison…. Batman-"

"Poison, I know." Artemis pulled out a small vial from her belt, quickly uncapping it and handing it to the seemingly delusional boy. "Drink this. It'll slow the poison until Batman gives you the cure."

Robin just took the bottle and, after staring at it for a minute, drank it without a word. He sat there for a minute, the empty bottle still in hand, his eyes, Artemis assumed, staring off into the distance. Then he shook his head and handed the bottle back to the archer, his face looking clearer and his breathing less labored.

"Thanks," He murmured, a hand going up to his chest. "Where'd you get that from?" He nodded at the bottle.

"When your sister totes around poisoned shurikens, anti-poison is your best friend." Artemis smirked slightly, but still watched him nervously.

Robin looked up and must've noticed her worried expression as he said:

"Don't worry, I'm fine. Just a little woozy, that's all."

Artemis bit her lip but didn't say anything. She watched Robin blink a few times, the palliative drink slowly taking affect. His face was still scrunched up slightly in pain and now that the effects of the poison were wearing off, his muscles seemed to be tensing up, as if in discomfort.

"You sure you're okay?" Artemis asked, one hand going up to feel her ponytail.

"Yeah, just help me up."

Artemis reached out and grabbed Robin's right arm, slowly straightening herself up, bringing the boy with her. Once they were standing, Artemis let go of the acrobat's arm. Robin attempted to brush himself off, but, seeing as he was soaked, Artemis doubted he was doing any good, and then he took a step forward. Once his weight was transferred onto his right leg, however, he gave a muffled cry of pain and would have fallen again had Artemis not caught him.

"Yeah, sure you're okay." Artemis grumbled, slinging his arm around her shoulder.

"Hey – wha – let go! I'm fine!"

The archer ignored his protests and held his arm firmly to her shoulder until he finally complied and allowed her to help him limp back towards the clearing where the Justice League had just arrived.

"Wait, what's going on out there?" Robin asked, the white slits in his mask narrowing as he squinted into the gloom, probably trying to see through the trees to the clearing.

"The League arrived," Artemis informed him, subconsciously slowing her pace as Robin's breathing became labored again. "But Aqualad put on the Helmet of Fate before they arrived. Kid Flash tried to warn him, but he didn't listen. As far as I know, the League's still battling the villains."

"Is the Team okay?"

"Besides Kaldur and the Helmet, yeah, mostly. I think Kid Clumsy broke his arm, but he didn't seem too bothered by it, so I wouldn't worry."

Robin nodded, his face still scrunched up, his eyes trained on the ground. They continued in silence for a moment until suddenly Robin stopped walking. At first Artemis thought he was in pain or something, but then he put his finger to his lips and nodded to the right. The archer strained to hear through the dense forest whatever it was Robin was hearing, assuming he wasn't delusional from the poison. After a few moments of holding her breath, Artemis was just about to dismiss the boy as loopy when she finally heard the faint sound of a voice.

"-haven't found the boy yet…. Yes, I'm checking the forest…. Joker had him last I think…. Wasn't with the League…. I'll head back soon…."

Robin turned to face the archer, his eyes wide and his expression slightly panicked, yet strangely determined. Before Artemis knew what was happening, the acrobat shrugged off her shoulder and began limping through mud towards the sound of the voice. Shocked, she reached out and grabbed his arm, alarm written across her face.

"What are you doing?" She hissed.

"I have to follow!" There was intense urgency in Robin's voice, which only caused Artemis to grip his wrist harder. "Atomic Skull, that's who's talking; he must be working with Cadmus!"

"Which is exactly why you should stay far away from him!" She retorted, attempting to drag him back the other direction.

"No, this is the first lead we've had." Robin protested, not allowing himself to be dragged away. "No other villains have been able to lead us back to whomever they're working for because as soon as they know we have them, they move!"

"That made no sense whatsoever."

"Atomic Skull said he was heading back! Heading back! If we follow him, we'll find who he's working for. We'll have the case in the bag!"

"You're hurt." Artemis tried, though it was a halfhearted argument. The look on Robin's face, one of intense longing and determination, tore at her. She how much stress the current situation had been putting on him and how badly he wanted it to be over. Here was his chance to finally end it all for good; there was no way she could deny him that chance.

"Shouldn't we get Batman?" She asked, finally loosening her grip on his arm.

"There's no time! It's now or never."

"Fine, let's go."

oOo

Superboy sighed as he picked himself up from the mud. He looked down at his shirt and grunted in frustration when he saw it was covered in muck. Why him? Straightening up, Superboy prepared to start heading back towards the clearing, having been thrown a good distance into the woods by a spell from Wotan, when he heard voices. Concentrating hard, Superboy could hear that they belonged to Robin and Artemis and were hushed and urgent.

"-lost him."

"I know."

"This is your fault."

"Wha – how is it my fault?"

"You're trained by Batman: you're supposed to be able to track voices."

"Wha-? That doesn't-"

Superboy, deciding that this sounded more interesting than going back and facing Superman, changed course and headed back in the woods, following the voices of his teammates.

Superboy was a better voice tracker than Robin, he supposed, as he quickly caught up with the two heroes, who were standing near a tree, equally as muddy, if not more so, than Superboy himself. Robin looked rather beat up and was leaning on the tree for support and Superboy narrowed his eyes, wondering what the boy had gotten into. The Kryptonian clone was just about walk out and make his presence known to them, for he had learned that people did not usually take kindly to being spied on, when a movement to his left caught his eye.

Superboy squinted, going to infrared vision, when suddenly a bright yellow beam shot out and hit Artemis square in the chest, tossing her back into a tree. Superboy surged forward but before he could reach Artemis, a figure appeared, dressed in a brown jump suit (the dead-living body, Superboy thought) and blasted Robin in the face with his light beam. He then gathered the unconscious boy up in his arms and disappeared so quickly into the forest that Superboy wondered he'd ever been really there at all.

The clone stared at the spot where the weird dead man had disappeared to; dread slowly building in his stomach as he realized that Robin, his teammate, had been captured and he, Superboy, hadn't done anything about it. He'd sat back and watched as the youngest had been dragged off without even lifting a finger. Superboy looked over to where Artemis was slowly getting up, her face a mask of confusion until she looked around and realized what had happened. Shock, fear, and dread washed over her and Superboy knew that this was so not asterous.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **The first legit cliffhanger! Whatcha think? I actually feel like I rushed it a bit in places, but, seeing as it was an episode, I didn't want to bore you. But what do you think? Opinions are much liked!

So, thanks for reading! Tune in again (hopefully soon) to see how this all works out! Please review and tell me your thoughts!

Alex out.


	15. Revelations

**A/N: **Here is the next chapter!

Thanks for all the amazing reviews, and all the faves and follows and that good stuff. So many, my precious, so many….

**XxNeonShadowsxX**: Thank you so much for the awesome, long review! And, no, it really isn't Robin's day. And yes, it was stupid. Bad Robin. Feel free to slap him.

** Dr. CraneSlaysDemons1234: **Yes! The Joker. Gotta love him. Thank you very much!

**READINGhearts17: **No, I guess he won't be….

**Sparrow-DawnUNITE: **Thank you, thank you!

** I. Love. Dick. Grayson: **I have updated again! Thank you for reviewing and for your concern for Dick. I am sure it is much appreciated.

**BrightPath2: **Yes, idiot he is. And I'm glad you thought it was a good cliffhanger.

**Kelly1432: **Am I too late? Are you dead? Oh dear…. Well, thank you, if you are still alive….

**KaliAnn: **Thanks bunches! And scary? Thank you! I try.

**ShadowCatAlex: **Thanks. And no, I don't like to beat up Robin, but other people do. I try to stop them but I am not quite that strong in the force yet.

**Mixxi: **Good hypothesis, but I'm not a big fan of the time gap thingy yet. Still waiting for it to grow on me….

**Guelio: **Intense, thank you!

**NightwingIronman: **You, my friend, have a very cool name. And thank you.

**Abbie-As-Sue. 29: ** Thank you!

**Bobby Corwen: **In my opinion, a reviewer is never late. Nor is a wizard. Mm, glad you caught that foreshadowing. Makes me happy…. And Wally and Rob are pretty great. And I made up that quote, so thank you very much. I actually enjoyed writing the Joker very much. Hope this chapter lives up to your expectations and thanks for the awesome review!

**Not-exactly-the-truth: **Thank you very much! And if it isn't exactly the truth, what is it? Hmm…. A deep question of the universe….

**C0pypa5ted3lete: **Hello again! And thank you! And that is a very good point. My only thought is that the countdown is automatic and they just didn't stop it yet. Artemis was a little delusional at that point so I guess it seemed to her that they were all gonna die. Thank you for pointing it out, though! I feel negligent now…. Ooo, drama. ;) Thank you! Hope you enjoy!

**Ember-Wing12: **Yep, poison and injuries are very cool. Thank you! You rock too.

Now, onto the next chapter:

* * *

><p>Artemis got unsteadily to her feet. Her head was spinning and her vision kept flickering with little fireflies. Her back ached from where it had slammed into the tree and for the first time since they'd been missing, she was glad she didn't have her bow and quiver – the blow would've smashed them. The archer ran a hand across her eyes, attempting to forcefully clear her vision as she blinked rapidly, trying to locate the source of the light beam that had hit her. A quick survey of the area found nothing. Nothing, and no one, meaning –<p>

"Robin!" Artemis's eyes widened, her stance becoming panicked as she yelled. "Robin! Robin!" There was no answer.

She tried her com-link, only to be met with static on Robin's channel. The mental link was down as well as Miss Martian was out of range.

"He's gone."

Artemis spun around at the sound of the voice. Superboy was making his way out of the trees, his face a mask of anger and his fists clenched like he wanted to punch something. Hard.

"What?"

"Atomic Skull," Superboy growled. "The guy that looks dead. He shot him with his light beam thing and then disappeared."

"Wait, he took," Artemis paused, scared to finish her sentence, "Robin?"

Superboy nodded, his knuckles cracking as he glared at a spot on the ground, probably where Robin had last been.

Artemis felt her heart speed up and her fingers grow cold as the realization that Robin was kidnapped finally sunk in. She hadn't been able to protect him. Cadmus had succeeded. Robin was in the hands of the enemy and was probably being taken to be prepped for experimentation at that very moment. She could feel herself on the verge of a panic attack, maybe a mental breakdown -

No. She wasn't going to let that happen. Not while she still stood. If the experience with the Red's had taught her anything it was that curling up in a ball and crying for the world not to be like it was wasn't going to help anyone. Robin needed her now and she had to be strong. She was a trained assassin. There was still hope. He'd only just been taken. There was no way Atomic Skull could be more than five minutes away from them as it was impossible to maneuver any type of aircraft through the forest.

"Superboy," Artemis turned to the clone. "Which way did Atomic Skull go?"

"North, I think." The Kryptonian's face was still screwed up in anger. "But he, he just disappeared. One minute he was there and then he wasn't."

Artemis frowned. That sure put a damper on her idea. But maybe….

"Artemis to Batman." The archer put her finger to her ear, switching to the correct channel.

"_Batman here." _

"It's Robin, he's been kidnapped." Artemis could hear the throaty growl that travelled through her earpiece. "It was Atomic Skull. Superboy said he went north but disappeared before he could be followed."

"_I'm tracking your coordinates. I'll be there soon. I have a tracker on Robin that will lead me to his location." _

"No." Artemis was only slightly surprised by her outburst. She _was_ an assassin. "Skull will be long gone before you catch up to him. Besides, the League needs you _and _Superman right now. We're closer than you. Have Kid Flash bring us the tracker and we'll go after him."

There was a long pause before finally:

"_Fine, but if he leaves the vicinity report back immediately. I'll send the Flash to assist you as soon as we can spare him."_

"Right."

"_And Artemis: be careful." _

Then the signal was cut.

Artemis took a deep breath, her hand slowly falling from her ear to her side. This was it. Batman was trusting her, _her, _the ex-assassin whose father was Sportsmaster. He trusted her to save Robin, his protégé, and to bring him back before it was too late. She knew that if she failed, how little a chance there might be of Batman ever finding him. How long until someone found the tracker? Once they did, Robin would disappear. If Batman hadn't managed to locate this 'Cadmus' yet, how likely was it that he would anytime soon?

Artemis mentally shook herself, steeling her mind and body for the task ahead. She'd been trained in this since she was little; she knew what she was doing. Turning to Superboy she said:

"Wally will be here soon with a tracker. Then we'll pursue Robin."

Superboy nodded and almost before he was finished there was a flash of bright colors and Kid Flash stood in front of them, panting slightly, his right arm still suspended in the green make-shift sling Artemis had tied around it. His uniform was still in camouflage mode but Artemis could see the mud that was plastered across the front and back along with that that was caked into his fiery hair. His face was smudged with dirt and he looked near exhaustion yet his features were hard as stone and the archer could tell he was worried about his friend.

"Here," Kid Flash reached out his good arm and dropped a small device into Artemis's hand. "I also brought you these. GA thought you might need them." The speedster reached behind his back pulled off her bow and quiver, which was fully stocked with her arrows.

"Thanks." Artemis said, her voice coming out hoarse as she found some sort of lump in the back of her throat.

"I would come with you," Kid Flash started, looking slightly downwards. "But Flash won't let me, cause of my arm." He absently fingered the green cloth hanging from his neck.

Artemis just nodded, taking her weapons. She slung the quiver behind her back and pulled the straps over her shoulders, her bow remaining resting in her left hand. She reached behind her and experimentally drew and arrow from the quiver, swiftly bringing it to rest on her bow before she drew the string taught and sighted down the shaft. Satisfied, the archer replaced the arrow, aware of the boys watching her every move.

"Ready Supey?" Artemis asked, shouldering her bow as she turned her attention to the tracking device, the screen showing a small red dot slowly moving away from a stationary blue dot on a gridded map.

Superboy nodded and Artemis was about to take a step forward when a gloved hand came to rest on her shoulder.

"Bring him back, okay?" Kid Flash said in a low voice, quite unlike his usual tone.

Artemis just nodded dumbly, watching the redhead's eyes as they glared into hers. It was… rather disconcerting. His green eyes were sparking fiercely and the archer could only imagine how hard it was to leave the fate of his best friend in someone else's hands while he sat back and did nothing. Especially if that someone was the one person in the world he hated.

"And Artemis?" She looked up. "Don't die."

oOo

Robin's world was a haze of pain. His eyes flashed open only to be squeezed shut again as the flashing of colors before his eyes made him nauseous. He struggled to force his mind to think, despite wanting nothing more than to pass out again. Slowly he became aware of being continuously and painfully jostled, each bump causing pain to fly across his chest. Gritting his teeth he mentally ran over his current position, finally deducing that he was lying across a broad shoulder of a jogging figure. With this realization the events of the past... however long it had been came rushing back.

Atomic Skull. He'd shot Artemis. And then…. He must've shot him as well and then grabbed him and ran. With this deduction came a sudden speeding up of Robin's heart as fear-induced adrenaline shot through his body. He immediately began struggling, attempting to dislodge himself from his perch on the shoulder but soon found both his legs and arms were tied tight at his wrists, ankles, elbows and knees – his arms behind his back; Skull wasn't taking any chances. He was screwed until either they released him somewhat or someone came to save him.

The figure carrying him, most likely feeling his movements, tightened his grip and called: "Skull, he's awake."

Robin winced at the sound of the voice right next to his ear. It was low and scratchy and sounded like a rock being dragged across concrete by an old cart with squeaky wheels.

"Gag him." This voice came from farther away and was hollow sounding with a weird, almost echo effect. "We're almost there, but I don't want to take any chances. Superman is in the vicinty after all."

A rough hand latched onto Robin's hair and he felt his head being yanked backwards until he was staring into the face of a large, muscular man with blonde hair and a mustache; he actually kind of resembled Oliver Queen in a weird, Viking-ish way. Before Robin's sluggish body had a chance to react, a strip of cloth was shoved roughly into his mouth and tied off behind his head, catching some of his hair in the process. The cloth tasted like blood and sweat and Robin tried not to think about where it'd been.

Once the cloth was secure the small acrobat was hefted unceremoniously back over the mustached man's shoulder and he continued running at the slow, bumpy jog.

They continued on like that for… Robin couldn't keep track. His headache from earlier returned full force and each bump sent shockwaves of pain through his skull not to mention that his shoulders started to burn from the position the bonds on Robin's elbows forced them into. If his shoulders hadn't been double-jointed, he was sure they would have been dislocated by the bumps. The cuts on his chest from Poison Ivy's plants bit painfully as well, though thankfully whatever Artemis had given him had halted the effects of the poison. His ankle also hurt, though only dully for which Robin was thankful. He was just glad Skull didn't make him run on it.

Robin struggled to keep his eyes shut as the sight of the ground hurtling by beneath him did nothing to help his headache. He was glad they hadn't taken off his mask, but he soon found that they had taken his gloves, belt and com-link. His boots were still on, but tied together as his legs were - about all he could do with them was attempt to kick his holder by flopping like a dying fish. Somehow he doubted that would be very affective.

Robin knew that in his current position he had virtually no chance of escaping so, to try relax his body, as he soon found that his previous outburst had caused the cuts on his chest to start bleeding again, he began to slowly recite the digits of pi as far as he could remember. Once he reached the end of his knowledge he would begin counting backwards, focusing his brain on the numbers, keeping it from thinking too far ahead into what might result if he wasn't rescued.

"_Seven, zero, six, seven," _He thought, wishing, for once, that his thoughts _were_ being projected through the mind-link. «Nine, eight, two, one,»He subconsciously switched to Romany, continuing in that until suddenly the jostling stopped.

Robin cracked his eyes open, relieved to find the ground stationary as it should be. He felt his body moving as the Mustache lifted him off his shoulder by the back of the acrobat's cape. He was then swung around before being deposited, rather roughly, against a tree. He quickly slouched, not wanting to put anymore strain on his aching shoulders, before something, it felt like a belt, was wrapped around his chest, securing him tightly to the tree. Blinking, Robin lifted his head and looked around, his Bat-senses kicking in as his brain began analyzing escape routes.

They were in a clearing, similar to the one where the Injustice League's base had been, only smaller and the surrounding forest seemed denser. In the middle of the clearing there was a helicopter of some sort, painted a murky black-brown color, probably to blend in with the landscape. It was off, the blades still and the engine silent. There were two men on top of the helicopter near an opening where a bunch of wires and machinery was visible. Another man was climbing down the copter's side near where Atomic Skull now stood. All the men were dressed in black, non-descript clothing with black helmtes and had guns strapped across their backs and at their hips.

Mustache stood a few feet from Skull, his back to Robin and a gun in his right hand. Though Robin couldn't see his face, he could tell Atomic Skull was angry as he watched the approach of his unfortunate henchman.

"I told you to be ready for lift off as soon as I arrived." Skull growled, his voice low, though the same tone as last time he'd spoken.

"Sorry boss." The henchman apologized, his voice sounding muffled and slightly crackly and Robin guessed there was a microphone inside the helmet catching his voice and projecting it outside. "When we landed, we clipped one of the blades on the trees. The men fixed it but we're still trying to get the engine back up again; it cut out once the blade broke."

"Move faster!" Skull demanded, his voice still barely rising above what it had been. "Once the League notices I'm missing they'll be on our tail. The speedster could catch up to us in a minute if not less."

"Yessir." The henchman, obviously in charge of the others, nodded. "We'll be out of here as soon as possible." Then he turned and quickly headed back up the ladder as Skull turned as well and made his way back over to Mustache.

"Sir." Mustache stood, his right hand lazily swinging his gun back and forth.

"How's the boy?" Skull asked, his eyes roving to Robin briefly before flickering back up.

"He's okay." Mustache too turned to look at the acrobat. "Though I think Poison Ivy got him with her vines."

"I need him alive, that is all. Though Ivy should know what damage her poison can do." Skull's eyes returned to Robin again and he shuddered slightly as they raked over his body.

"I believe the poison has been halted for the time." Mustache said, running his left hand over his gun.

"Still, Ivy shouldn't have been so reckless."

So, Poison Ivy was working with 'Cadmus' too? Robin scrunched his face up as his brain processed the information. Atomic Skull and Mustache continued to talk but a sudden pulsating of pain caused Robin's brain to drown out the words. He tried to focus his thoughts and keep himself calm, reminding himself that, although his belt and gloves were taken, he still his tracker so Batman would find soon, right?

"-McGrubsnic took them down-"

"-Shouldn't interfere-"

"-Don't know-"

"-Secretive-"

"-Injustice League… a front-"

"-Count Vertigo-?"

"-Another Count-"

"-Knights from Coruscant-"

"-Connecting Signal, sir-"

Robin leaned his head against the rough bark of the tree, snippets of conversation permeating the haze surrounding his consciousness, but ever so slowly the effects of the anti-poison were wearing off and he couldn't bring himself to concentrate on what they were saying. He knew that now was an ideal time to try to free himself, but his limbs felt sluggish and nothing was concrete in his mind. Maybe the poison was beginning to take affect again.

Suddenly Robin felt a tug on the back of his cape and felt his body being lifted in the air. He was momentarily airborne and then was deposited back on the ground, something still latched onto his cape holding his limp body up. Robin forced his eyes open, coming to face to face with a holographic screen of blackness. He screwed his eyes up in confusion, trying to get his brain to process this new information when a voice spoke, high and bone-chilling and crazy:

"_Hello Robin."_ The voice laughed, and Robin blinked rapidly while swiveling his aching head, trying to figure out where the voice was coming from.

"_I'm right here, in front of you."_ The voice giggled. _"You should be able to see me, but apparently we're suffering from poor reception." _

Robin stared at the black holo screen, the voice apparently emanating from within.

"_I can see you, though," _The voice continued. _"And a very interesting sight it is. I just can't wait to get my hands on you and see what will become."_

At this, Robin shuddered, unconsciously drawing in on himself as he made the realization that this was the person who was after him – who'd been chasing him since he'd escaped from Cadmus Labs. This was the scientist, if he could be called that, who'd authorized whatever procedure they'd performed on him and the one who wanted to finish said procedure.

"_Hmm, yes, you are a good one to be sure." _The voice was still talking in the creepy, high pitched tone usually associated with the insane, coming through hidden speakers with strange crackling sounds accompanying it. _"Trained by the Batman, an acrobat since practically birth. Rather small, but that will be fixed soon enough. Young and impressionable, influential…."_

Robin's mind had stopped. _'Acrobat since nearly birth'…. _This man knew his secret identity; knew who he was, who Batman was. But how? There were only a handful of people who knew and none of them would willingly tell. He hadn't heard of any Leaguer's that had been captured and he would've been one of the first to know if something had happened to Wally….

"_According to my calculations," _The voice continued, now seeming to be talking to itself instead of Robin._ "The DNA is still activate-able despite how long it's been, though I fear the cloaking feature is wearing off. No matter, all will work out, yes, all will work out. Good good good…."_

DNA? Now Robin's throbbing mind was overrun with a hundred other thoughts. This had to do with DNA? Had they injected him with some kind of DNA? But Batman scanned him hundreds of times and there had been nothing. But cloaking feature… he'd said something about a cloaking feature. Was it even possible to shield DNA from being discovered? Then why hadn't Robin suddenly developed wings and fangs and an eight pack? Well, not that he didn't already have amazing abs, of course….

"_Alright, alright, that is good. Bring him and don't delay. I've been waiting for this for far too long. Now if you'll excuse, I have a rather important something or other to do because I am sick of seeing your ugly faces."_

And then the holo screen disappeared.

Robin's head was pounding as all the new information danced around in his head, causing his brain to feel nauseous, if that was even possible. It felt like all the information was having some sort of tribal celebration around a campfire, chanting nonsense and banging his brain cells together like drums. And he was going crazy on top of all that; great.

He barely registered being picked up again and deposited back against the tree, the belt once again secured around his chest, this time digging into his cuts. He was vaguely aware of talking above him but he couldn't decipher the words or meaning. He felt himself slowly loosing grip on his thoughts, his mind beginning to play tricks on him as he watched little DNA strands dance around his burning brain cells with Wally sitting in the flames singing _My Heart Will Go On. _

And then suddenly, something blew up.

oOo

Artemis clutched the tracker tightly as she jogged through the forest, wishing for what she hoped was the only time in her life that she was Wally. Or at least had his speed. Superboy jogged along behind her, his face stony as he stared straight ahead, nothing but determination showing on his features. Artemis figured he felt guilty over what had happened, maybe even blaming himself, judging from his actions and how he'd seen Robin get kidnapped in the first place. The archer wasn't sure whether his beliefs were well-grounded or not, but didn't give time to think over the matter and only hoped his guilt wouldn't cause him to do anything _too_ rash.

"How close are we?" Superboy growled, his eyes remaining locked on the forest ahead of them.

Artemis glanced down at the tracker, taking in the map, the dots and the key at the bottom. They'd been jogging for a good ten minutes, too long in Artemis's opinion, and she was beginning to wonder what was holding the Flash up. Of course she was confident in her and Superboy's abilities, but they had very little, if any, knowledge of who they were dealing with and, as much as the archer hated to admit it, she actually wanted help, if only for Robin's sake.

"We're within five hundred meters," She told the clone, looking up from the tracker and brushing a piece of muddy hair out of her face before reaching behind her and pulling out her bow.

"Then we're getting there now!"

Artemis didn't have to time to ponder the odd exclamation as next thing she knew, a large, muscled arm wrapped around her waist her feet left the ground and Superboy leaped clear of the trees, sailing high over the forest. Artemis felt the air leave her lungs at the sudden increase in speed and height and quickly regretted eating before the mission.

As they sailed downwards, the archer tried to brace herself for the impact, thinking it would probably be hard enough to knock her teeth out and give Gotham Dental another denture patient. They were ten feet from the ground and Artemis squeezed her eyes shut, clenching her jaw in hopes of maybe clamping her teeth in place, but the impact, while rough, seemed to be absorbed mostly by the ground as a giant crater formed around them as they hit. And why hadn't they done this earlier? Superboy set her down before spinning around and knocking a man in a black helmet and some sort of stealth suit fifty feet into a tree.

Artemis shook her head, trying to take in the situation before it took her in. They had landed in a clearing: small, and home to a helicopter and black clothed men in motorcycle helmets. Artemis quickly located Atomic Skull, who was currently firing brain-beams or whatever they were at Superboy. The clone was yelling like Tarzan and smashing things left and right and Artemis almost wished she'd taken Kid Flash instead. Almost.

Superboy was actually doing a fairly decent job of ridding the field of competition, which left the archer free to find Robin. Maybe she should give the clone more credit in the brain cell department. Artemis drew an arrow and nocked it in her bow, jumping out of the mini crater as her eyes roamed the clearing, passing over five or six helmet-men, a man who looked strangely like Ollie-turned-Viking and Atomic Skull before coming to rest on a small boy tied to a tree.

The archer sprinted over, smacking a helmet-man in the gut with her bow when he got in the way. Reaching Robin she slid to a halt, collapsing to her knees as she lifted his head to see if he was conscious. She ripped the gag out of mouth as he started mumbling.

"Don' worry, W'lly, m'eart will g'on."

"Robin!" Artemis snapped, confused, amused and worried at the same time. "Robin, it's me, Artemis. Are you awake?"

"Mm, 'temis?"

"Yeah, Artemis. Hey, listen, you gotta stay awake, okay?"

Artemis quickly assessed his condition as best he could. The front of his uniform as well as the belt circling his chest was stained red, or a darker red in his shirts case, with blood and Artemis could see the gashes through the tears in the fabric. His face was covered in dried mud and guck but she could make out bruises forming on his cheek and under his eye. His injured ankle looked the same, still in the right position, but with his boot on, there was no way to tell what damage there was.

"You're not looking to great, Wonder Boy." Artemis muttered, brushing strands of hair off his masked eyes.

"Yeah, well," Robin panted, finally sounding coherent. "You can tell yer sis'er that her s'uff doe'n't work."

Artemis gave him a weird look until she remembered: poison. Robin was poisoned. With the amount of time that had passed since she'd given him the anti-poison it had no doubt worn off and the acrobat was beginning to feel the full effects of the poison. It would explain the delirium at least.

This information on the forefront of her mind, Artemis reached around behind Robin and the tree and began undoing the belt that held the boy in place. Once he was free, Robin slumped forward and would've probably ended up face-planting into the ground if Artemis hadn't caught him. She slowly eased him back up into a sitting position and before pulling a knife out of her belt and proceeding to cut through the ropes encircling his wrists. As the ropes fell away, Artemis saw that they'd rubbed open the previous cuts and that Robin's bare wrists were slowly oozing blood.

Once she'd finished cutting through all the ropes she leaned the boy back up against the tree, him not having said a word the whole time. Artemis replaced the knife in her belt and pulled out instead a small roll of gauze and a tube of antiseptic ointment. Artemis cautiously unscrewed the cap, not really sure how the whole disinfecting thing work as she usually skipped that part or someone else did it for her but she didn't want Robin dying of infection because of any stupidity on her part. The archer squeezed out some of the clear goop and gently spread it on Robin's skinny wrists, hoping that her hands weren't too dirty. She considered trying to rub some on his chest too, but she wasn't sure how it would react with the poison. Why hadn't she paid more attention when Green Arrow taught her about this?

Once Robin's wrists were slimy with antiseptic Artemis carefully wound gauze around them. She was just about to move onto his ankle when a shout sounded behind her:

"Watch the archer! She's freed the boy!"

_Crap, _Artemis thought, standing up and positioning herself in front of Robin, bow taught as a helmet-man and Ollie the Viking charged towards her. She released three arrows in rapid succession, one successfully trapping the helmet-man in polyurethane foam. The other two were dodged by the Viking-man and hit the ground harmlessly behind him. Artemis reached for another arrow and fired it as well but this one was batted away by the Viking's metal-encased wrist.

Artemis reached for an arrow but thought better of it, instead holding her bow out in front of her like a staff. Once Ollie-Viking got close enough she delivered a hard smack to his head. He shot out a fist at her and she ducked, bringing up her bow to block before driving her knee into his solar plexus. He stumbled back, pausing for a moment before going at her again, his tree-trunk arms swinging like clubs.

"Can't you see I'm busy here?" Artemis growled under her breath, ducking blows as she was slowly pushed backwards, almost on top of Robin. As she reached up to block a hit with her bow, another giant fist came hurtling through her peripheral vision making a beeline for her head. Artemis braced herself for the hit, knowing there was no way she would be able to block with bow her hands on her bow, when suddenly, Ollie the Viking wasn't there anymore.

"Need a hand?" Flash was suddenly standing in front of the archer, grinning and brushing off his hands as he glanced briefly behind his back. Artemis peered over his shoulder and saw the Viking-man crumpled against a tree, appearing to be out cold.

"Mini-Supes is taking out Skull's cronies," Flash announced, his smile gone. "That'll buy us time to get him outta here."

Artemis blinked, glancing back at Robin as her brain struggled to catch up. "O-okay, but what about Skull?"

"Superboy will take care of him too."

The archer nodded, watching briefly as a Helmet-man slammed into a tree before returning her attention to her teammate. Flash was already crouched down inspecting Robin, his hands a blur as he gently ghosted over the boy's injuries. Once he seemed satisfied he'd found everything, the speedster reached down and lightly picked up the acrobat, cradling him in his arms like a bride. If men even carried their brides anymore; Artemis had no idea.

"Let's go." Flash straightened, Robin still clutched in his arms. "Supes'll catch up when he's finished here. I need your help with him."

"Right." Artemis collapsed her bow and stowed it away. Flash had already disappeared into the woods, but Artemis could still hear him, meaning he wasn't using his super-speed. The archer threw one last glance at Superboy, hoping he would be able to handle Atomic Skull by himself, before running off into the woods as well.

A little ways in, Artemis found Flash kneeling on the ground in front of Robin, the boy propped up against a tree, his masked eyes closed. The speedster appeared to be inspecting the boy's bandaged wrists and Artemis winced, hoping she'd done a reasonable job. Flash seemed satisfied with her job, for which Artemis inwardly sighed in relief, and moved down to inspect Robin's injured ankle.

"How is it?" Artemis asked, crouching down beside the man.

"Hard to tell with the boot on," Flash replied, his words coming out fast but clear, something Wally hadn't yet managed to accomplish. "It's definitely sprained – you can tell by the swelling – and probably broken, but not too bad. I'd take the boot off to be sure, but I'd rather have it stabilizing the injury if I have to run him back."

Artemis nodded.

"I'm gonna go find some sticks to splint it with." The speedster announced, standing up quickly. "You stay here; talk to him, try to keep him awake. That poison's gotta be doing a number to him." And then the speedster was gone. Artemis was tempted to roll her eyes, but decided that now wasn't the time.

"Hey, Rob," Artemis started, squinting into his masked eyes that appeared to be closed. "You awake?"

The reply took a moment to come: "I th'inkso."

"Okay, uh, how do you feel?"

"'Mgl'r'igh'ow."

"What?" Artemis moved her ear closer to his mouth.

"I said: I'm glaring right now. Tha's a stupid qu'stion."

"Oh," Artemis sat back on her feet, feeling stupid. It was probably all these protective instincts running through her body, bemusing her brain and addling her senses. Someone needed to go in there and knock her mind upside the head. Maybe Superboy when he was done taking care of Skull….

"'temis, Ar'emis, did you 'ear me?"

"Wha-?"

"Call Ba'man. Tell 'im to disable my belt an' gloves."

"Right, okay." Artemis reached up to her com-link and switched to Batman's channel. "Artemis to Batman."

"_Batman here." _

"Uh, we got Robin. He wants you to disable his belt and gloves…." Artemis trailed off, unsure how to continue.

"_I know. Flash called. Tell Robin it's taken care of. Batman out." _

"He says it's taken care of." Artemis told Robin, switching her com to neutral. She was surprised Batman hadn't asked to at least speak to Robin, but Robin didn't seem to think much of it so she assumed it was normal. Maybe they had some sort of way of communicating through bat sonar or something….

"Back." Flash appeared at Artemis' side, two sticks in his left hand. "Sorry I took so long. Had to help Supey tie up Skull."

The speedster dropped to the ground next to the archer and immediately started working on Robin's ankle, tearing strips from the boy's cape to use to tie the sticks to his ankle. Robin was silent all through it, though he hissed in pain when Flash had to hold his ankle up so as to be able to wrap the strips around the back. It only took him seconds and when he was done, his stood up, brushing off the knees of his uniform.

"There, that should be good enough till we get back to Bats. He'll look at those cuts too. And the poison. And your wrists. Man, you've had a rough day, huh?"

"'M glaring 'gain."

"Alrighty," Flash continued, ignoring Robin. "Artemis, you help me stand him up and get him on my back. I'm gonna run him back to the clearing so Batman can hopefully take care of the poison before it gets worse."

Artemis nodded, and got into a crouch, grabbing one of the Boy Wonder's arms while Flash grabbed the other. "Sorry, Rob," She muttered before they both pulled him up.

Once on his feet, Robin swayed, his eyes clenched shut and his jaw locked while Artemis steadied him with her both her hands and her body. Flash crouched down again, his back to the boy while Artemis guided Robin onto until he was lying on the speedster's back.

"All set?" Flash stood up, careful to bring Robin with him. He let go of the boy once he was standing, only for the acrobat to nearly slip off. "Maybe we should tie you on."

Artemis ripped more of Robin's cape with her knife and wrapped it around the acrobats waist and then around the Flash's as well before tying it securely. She tied some around the boy's arms as well, careful not so wrap it around his injured wrists.

"Now we good?" Flash released his hold on Robin and found that he stayed on, only slipping a little. "I'll try to hold on to ya as best as I can, alright?"

Robin only grunted.

"Alrighty then, we are off! Oh, and sorry 'bout the cape." Flash shot a quick look around the area before turning to Artemis once more: "I'm back to the location of the dome. Batman's sending Hal to pick up Atomic Skull so you can go back and wait with Mini-Supes."

"Kay." Sounded like some more great bonding time with everyone's favorite clone.

"And Artemis? You did good."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **A little Arty lover for ya. And there you have it. I'm sorry to all who this was it, the big kidnapping that everyone's been waiting for. It wasn't, obviously, but really, did you want this to be the big finale? Come on, I got something way better in store. ;) And there is also only one more chapter in stage two! After that, things get intense. I hope.

So, please review and tell me your thoughts, even if it's just gibberish. I will attempt to do my best to decipher. Oh, and go watch the Hobbit. Thanks one and all and enjoy the snow (if you have any on your planet)! Merry Christmas,

Alex out.


	16. The Calm

**A/N: **So, I have returned! Here is chapter 16 and the last chapter of act two. Enjoy it.

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed and favorite and followed!

**READINGhearts17: **yes, she did!

**XxNeonShadowsxX: **Eh, just embrace it. And yes, stubborn seems to be his middle name. And I'm glad you like the sound of the scientist. I'm very excited to be able to write him more. He is, in fact, a canon villain, but very little known. Thank you for the review!

**Brightpath2: **Oh, well, thank you. I'm glad you were made happy. Happy is a good thing to be.

**KaliAnn: **Yes, well, don't worry, I think most people wished that. Evil me, making you all wait.

**not-exactly-the-truth: **Oh, I've got some good stuff in store. I hope….

**Hana-Liatris: **I'm glad you liked him being saved. Yes, DNA of what indeed. Haha, yeah, thank you!

**Dr. CraneSlaysDemons1234: **Yes, more. Here is the update. ;)

**Princess of the Umbra Drachen: **Thank you. And I like that song a lot!

**Kelly1432: **Heat, yes, heat is coming.

**Sparrow-DawnUNITE: **Nah, Star Trek is cool. S' all good. Wow, well, intensity is coming. After this chapter. Mind blown. Oh dear. Well, thank you for the great review!

**Guelio: **Thank you! Go Artemis.

**Guest: **Haha, thank you! I listened, I liked. And Paradise is good too. Thank you for reading!

**Guest (2): **Haha, that was very good! I like it. Thank you!

**Guest (3): **Thank you. And I know, but this is just my version. Other universe, other story. And I kinda wish she was older in YJ as well, but no matter.

**Maddie Seth: **Congratulations! You are the very first person to mention that song! Now I can die in peace. Just kidding…. Mostly….

**Darkninja457: **Thank you! And here is the update.

Thank you for the reviews and please continue to review! I'm glad I didn't turn people off by rescuing Robin. ;)

* * *

><p>Bruce rubbed his temple, small wrinkles forming under his fingers as he continued to stare at the screen, the glowing blue light reflected in his dark eyes. The cave was quiet, save for the dull roar of the waterfall in the background and the occasional rustle of bats as they flitted around somewhere in the vast expanse of the ceiling. The tapping that usually accompanied the light of the computer was absent, as was any other sounds relating to human movement. The cave was quiet, unusually so.<p>

Even for Bruce, who's thoughts were usually enough to make up for any silence around. For once, the billionaire's mind was still, as if in pause, waiting for someone to start it up again. It had been running on overdrive for the past fifteen hours and seemed as though finally it had burnt out. Or maybe it was because it had finally exhausted all there was to think about. He'd finally, finally, finally, found some sort of lead on Cadmus. He'd found something that at least shed a little light on the mystery and opened up further investigation. At least he hoped so.

Once Robin had recovered enough to speak coherently, he'd told Batman everything that had happened. Of course Batman had been mad, furious even, at the boy and had lectured him for probably longer than they boy's attention span, but he'd had to. Robin had to understand that what he'd done had been stupid and reckless, no matter what he may have learned from it. His life was worth more than whatever information he'd managed to procure, no matter how important the information turned out to be. Batman had then put Robin on 'house arrest' and Dick as well, until his ankle was well enough to walk on. The boy was currently upstairs sleeping, a large brace on his ankle, bandages covering most of his body and a large bottle of medicine for the poison still coursing through his body. Thankfully it hadn't been deadly.

Once Dick had been taken care of, Bruce (or at least he assumed it was Bruce; he wasn't wearing the cowl, right? Though the fact was that Bruce was seldom around anymore) set upon sorting all the information he'd received. He'd managed to condense it down and arrive at the conclusion that, A: The man after Dick was crazy; B: He'd injected Dick with some type of DNA that he'd managed to somehow hide from scanners, for now; C: Said DNA wasn't 'active' and hence was not playing any role in Dick's genetic make-up – yet; D: The scientist, if he could even be called that, behind all this needed to activate the DNA inside Dick; and E: His reasons, while still unknown, either appealed to most of the villain population at large or he was able to give said villains what they wanted. That was the part that scared Bruce the most.

Whoever this man was, he either was able to give these villains something they wanted, which, in some cases, was hard to do, or else whatever he was up to somehow appealed to them. Either way, he was someone Bruce wasn't happy to be messing with, especially if it was Dick's life that hung in the balance. At least now he had something to go off of though. Or he hoped he did. Atomic Skull hadn't been much help, having only been heading to some rendezvous point where he would meet up with this freak scientist and not actually knowing yet where his main base was. This man was good – almost too good – but only almost. He was Batman, after all.

oOo

"_Recognized: Robin B-01"_

"Oh, you're here!"

Robin smiled, limping over to where M'gann stood with a spoon in one hand and a fish in the other.

"Yeah, sorry I'm late; had a lot of homework." He subconsciously tried to adjust his sunglasses so they weren't pressing into the small cut and bruise on his face.

"It's alright." M'gann smiled, waving the fish slightly as she spoke. "I was just trying a recipe Conner gave me. He told me I should make it for Kaldur so I decided to have it ready when the Team gets back."

"And what exactly is this recipe?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow at the fish. It looked like tuna.

"It's called sushi. It's an earth food."

"Oh," Robin nodded, following M'gann as she floated back towards the kitchen. "In that case, I think Conner was kidding."

"Just let me put the fish back in the refrigerator," M'gann said over her shoulder, oblivious to Robin's previous statement. "Then we can go!"

Robin flashed her a thumbs up before seating himself on a stool next to the island, propping his right ankle up on another stool. The Mountain was unnaturally quiet, the absence of the other four members of the Team lending a stillness to the usually active headquarters. It was strange, almost eerie, and Robin wished he'd been able to go with the Team on the mission. It wasn't a simple mission, but it wasn't hard either, and Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, and Artemis had left early that morning. Robin had attended the briefing, but hadn't even bothered changing into his uniform, knowing full well Batman wouldn't let him go out yet.

He'd only just gotten off crutches and still had to wear a large black brace on his ankle. The cuts on his chest were healing, but were still wrapped in bandages, as were his wrists. This was the first time in five days that he'd even been allowed at the mountain, but that had more to do with punishment than his injuries. He also hadn't been able to train Batgirl at all and had only managed to get a message to her through her com-link he'd given her that he was busy elsewhere and wouldn't be able see her for a while. She was probably mad, but she could just join the party.

"Okay, I'm ready." M'gann announced, her skin morphing from green to a pale peach color and the apron she wore disappearing.

"Great. Your uncle left the car in the lower hanger and I assume you have the keys?" Robin nimbly sprang off the stool, landing expertly on one foot.

"Yes! They're in my room; I'll go grab them." M'gann floated off before returning shortly with a pair of car keys in her hand. The Martian obviously hadn't gone on the mission either as J'onn had stated that she'd recently completed some very intense mental training and that it would be wise to give her mind a rest to avoid loss of control.

"Okay, I'll show you where the car is." Robin beckoned the girl to follow him, his gait unsteady as the brace on his ankle prevented any ankle movement whatsoever.

Once J'onn had told his niece she wouldn't be going on the mission, he'd then suggested she practice driving. At first Robin had been confused but then Wally had told him that J'onn had recently given M'gann a car and a driver's license to use to get to school, but that he hadn't yet taught her to drive. Robin, of course, saw teaching her as a potential boredom buster (of course he could drive – he was Robin) and a way to possibly save a few lives along the way. Cause really, who would give a naïve Martian free reign of a vehicle? Sure she could drive a bio-ship and a motorcycle, but a car didn't respond to your thoughts and was controlled much differently than a bike. M'gann had, of course, loved the idea, so now they were going driving.

Once they'd reached the hanger Robin instructed M'gann on how operate the automatic locking system before getting in the passenger side. It was a nice car, Robin noticed, practical yet stylish, painted a bright, cherry red color. The interior smelled like new car, with a front and back row of seats, all leather, and a leather-covered steering wheel. After poking around a bit, Robin found that the seats had heating capabilities as well as numerous levers for adjusting height, distance from front, etc. which he had a fun time messing with until suddenly the car took off from the ground and started hovering.

"Woah! M'gann, put us down!" Robin yelped, his gaze going over to the Martian who looked to be in deep thought, her eyes glowing green.

"What?" M'gann's eyes changed back to normal as she glanced over at her teammate. "Oh, oh right, sorry!" Her eyes turned green again and the car carefully touched down onto the concrete again. "Sorry! I was just… testing some things."

"Right," Robin grabbed his seatbelt and secured it in the holder before beckoning for M'gann to do the same.

"Okay, so what first?" The Martian asked, grasping the wheel excitedly.

"The key," Robin handed her the key to the car, attached to a small, plastic keychain. "Put this into that little slot by the wheel. Then turn it until the car starts up and let go."

"Okay!" She managed to get the key in the slot and after a couple tries and almost overheating the engine, managed to get the car to start.

"Good, now put your foot on the brake pedal," Robin instructed, pointing to the two pedals on the floor. "It's on your left, the big one. Yeah, like that, now push down. Good, now grab this stick thingy, push the button on the side and move it until it makes the little 'D' light up green."

"Like this?"

"Yeah, that's good. Now take your foot off the brake and _gently_ push the other pedal."

_Screech!_

"Gently, M'gann!"

"Oops, sorry."

After a half an hour, they managed to get out of the mountain and onto the roads. Robin ended basically driving from the passenger seat, his left arm stretched out and steering the wheel while he dictated to M'gann how to operate the pedals. Once they were safely out on a semi-abandoned road, Robin finally relaxed and prepared to give M'gann the wheel again.

"M'gann, I'm gonna give you the wheel, okay?" Robin told her, slowly withdrawing his hand from the leather. "Hold it with both hands and steer gently."

"O-okay. Are you sure?"

"Yeah, you'll be fine. It's easy; you're basically just driving a four thousand pound bomb. No biggy."

"A bomb?" M'gann shrieked, accidently yanking the wheel hard to the left.

"Woah!" Robin grabbed the wheel and shoved it in the opposite direction. "No, don't worry; it only blows up if you run into something!"

"Oh, okay," M'gann still looked hesitant as she carefully held the wheel, as if afraid it would blow up if she gripped too hard. "Am I doing okay?"

"Yeah, you're doing grea – watch out for the tree!"

_Screech!_

"Woops, sorry!"

"It's okay, just follow the road. No cross country."

M'gann nodded and leaned forward, glaring out the windshield as her grip on the wheel tightened. When they came to a turn, she yanked the wheel hard left and they almost slid into a ditch before Robin reached over and managed to straighten them out.

"Gently, remember?"

"Right."

As it turned out, M'gann was a fast learner and seemed naturally adapted to controlling objects, once she figured out how. They continued on down the back road, passing very few cars (which was good; the first car they'd passed nearly resulted in a deadly drop into a chasm) or anything else for that matter and soon M'gann started a conversation, having apparently gotten proficient enough to drive and talk. At least, Robin hoped so.

"So, Robin, how are your injuries? Wally's sound excruciatingly painful by how he describes them."

Robin rolled his eyes, but wasn't really surprised. "A little sore, nothing too bad; thanks for asking."

"Will you be able to go on missions soon?" The Martian's eyes stayed fixed on the road, but Robin could feel her consciousness brushing up against his own as she talked.

"Yeah, just as soon as my ankles better." Robin subconsciously rubbed his good foot against the brace on his ankle.

"Oh good!"

They lapsed into silence for a few minutes, Robin taking to messing with the radio controls while M'gann drove. He could tell there was something she wanted to ask him, and he had a feeling he knew what it was, but was hesitant to bring it. He continued playing around with the dashboard, finding that the car had excellent sound quality as well temperature control and still M'gann didn't say anything.

"I talked to Superboy." The acrobat finally said, his gaze still on the numerous knobs.

"Really?" M'gann sounded relieved. "What did you two say?"

"I told him it wasn't his fault." Robin spun a dial, upping the bass on the current track. "That I don't blame him for anything. He seemed okay with it, eventually. It took a lot of convincing and a lot of time spent talking to myself. And a lot of static. My ears were ringing for hours after." Robin laughed a bit.

"Oh good." M'gann sighed, her grip on the wheel relaxing slightly as she turned and gave Robin a grateful look. "He was really upset when I talked to him about it and wouldn't really say much."

"Yeah, I kinda had to pry." Robin smiled ruefully at the memory. Superboy was one tough nut to crack.

"Thank you! I don't kno-"

"Miss M, watch ou-!"

_Crash!_

Robin felt himself thrown forward into his seatbelt as the car came to a sudden halt. Shaking his head to clear it, the boy quickly glanced at the Martian, who was, of course, completely fine, before shakily climbing out of the car. Upon exiting, he saw that the front of the car was bent around a tree, smoke coming from the crumpled hood and leaves littering the ground. The shiny red paint was smashed and the car wasn't nearly as sleek as it had once been. The tree looked undamaged, but Robin had a feeling that the car wasn't going to be driving again. Ever.

"Well, that went well."

oOo

The store fronts were all open, inviting, begging for company, but really, how much company could a store be? It was the stuff inside the store that people wanted. The clothes, equipment, food; that was what was people came for and only that. They didn't come for the store itself, the building maybe, but not the actual store. No matter how open and inviting they seemed. No matter how lonely or dejected they felt. Because stores didn't feel, and people knew that, so they didn't care. They took what they wanted from the store and left, not giving it a second thought. They didn't care, and why would they? Why should they? It was just a shell, really. Nothing more. Just a shell….

Dick turned his gaze away from the shells of the stores, the sight, for some reason, causing him pain. He didn't want to see them, standing there, lonely, as people passed through on their way elsewhere. It hit him too hard. It tore at him, ripping at him….

"Hey, Dick, wanna hit up the bagel place? I'm starving."

Dick turned to look at Wally, raising an eyebrow at the statement. "Wally, you're always starving."

"Not true," The redhead argued, shoving his hands in pockets. "I'm always hungry, but I'm not always starving. There's a difference, Dickie."

"Yeah, okay, don't call me that." Dick half-smiled.

"Why not? I think it's kinda cute."

Dick just shook his head, kicking a stray marble on the floor. It'd probably come from the toy store, rolling out of some kids bag after he opened it in the mall even after his mom told him specifically not to. Hopefully he hadn't lost all of them.

"Oo, Dick, bagel place dead ahead," Wally pointed.

The two boys entered the bagel shop, Wally going over and quickly ordering his 'usual', consisting of five sesame seed bagels and two pumpernickel and a large bottle of cranberry apple juice. Dick ordered a bagel as well, but after receiving it, he found he didn't have as much appetite as he'd originally thought. Once they'd both gotten their food, they found a small booth in the corner and sat down, the speedster shoveling down half his food in a minute. Dick watched, picking apart his bagel without paying any real attention to it.

"Mmf, dude," Wally spoke around his mouth full of food, spraying a few crumbs across the table. "So I was messing around with my computer for this stupid PowerPoint thing I have to do for school, and I must've disabled something somehow 'cause now I can't get onto any programs. Think you can fix it for me?"

"Yeah, sure," Dick nodded, his rhythmic tearing of his bagel continuing without interruption.

"Sweet, thanks man." Wally took a long swig of his juice before continuing. "My dad thought he'd have to take it in and pay a bunch of money to fix it, but I told him you could..."

Dick wasn't really even listening anymore. He was finding it harder and harder to focus on things these days, which was beginning to cause problems in school as well as elsewhere. He'd been suffering from more headaches and even Bruce was beginning to notice something was off. Batman immediately attributed it to the DNA injected in his body and had started performing regular tests on him again, something which wasn't helping him in either aspects.

"Yo, Dick, you okay?"

Dick looked up to a see a hand waving back up and down in front of his face.

"Wha-? Oh, yeah, m'fine."

"Dude, what's up with you?" Wally narrowed his eyes, searching his friend's face. "You've been kinda out of it recently."

Dick sighed, beginning to pick apart smaller pieces of his bagel as he finished the main part. "It's just… all that's been going on, I guess."

"Cadmus?"

Dick nodded, his gaze drifting down to the pieces of bagel in his hand. "Batman's really intent on finding who's behind it all."

Wally nodded, understanding clear on his face. The speedster picked a pumpernickel bagel, shoving half into his mouth, his eyes still locked on Dick's face. "How's training with Batgirl been going?"

"Eh," Dick shrugged, not looking up this time. "It's… going. For now."

"You ever gonna tell Bats?"

Dick didn't answer, moving on to a small piece of bagel and proceeding to crumble it up into little pieces and sprinkle the crumbs around his plate.

"He's gonna find out, you know."

"I know."

They sat in silence for a long time, Wally finishing his food as Dick crumbled up his bagel into tiny crumbs, all scattered across plate. Dick's mind was blank and he tried purposely to keep it that way. Thinking hurt.

"Hey, Dick?" Wally was watching the younger boy carefully, his gaze hopeful. "Wanna do something fun? Like, really fun? Just you and me?"

"More fun than sitting, eating bagels?" Dick asked, looking up as well, his fingers releasing their hold on the bagel crumbs as his face slowly grew brighter.

"Way more fun! Ever planked on an escalator?"

"Really, Wally?" Dick smiled. "That's your idea of really fun?"

"Not just that!" Wally stood up, taking his and Dick's plate. "We have a whole mall at our command! Think of all the mall cops we can tick off!"

Despite himself, Dick found himself laughing. He stood up as well, limping over to Wally as the speedster threw away their plates. Sure, maybe this would turn out bad, but at that moment, Dick didn't think things could get any worse. Besides, who could turn down planking on an escalator?

oOo

Wally hummed quietly to himself as he walked briskly, his eyes wandering over the landscape, but his mind not really taking in what he was seeing. The light was fading fast and Wally knew he had to get home before dark to avoid unpleasant consequences, but for once, he didn't want to rush and instead enjoy some time to think. His thoughts moved fast, so he was covering a lot in a short period of time and he reasoned he'd have thought through all there was to think through by the time he reached the zeta beam at the opposite end of the parking lot.

His day with Dick had very well once he got the boy out from under his thunder cloud and the speedster couldn't help being pleased with himself. Dick had needed this for a while and Wally was glad he could be the one to finally give it to him. Sure, his methods might be slightly unconventional (if one would call peeving mall cops all day unconventional) but they worked, and he was happy for that. And as a bonus, he'd managed to avoid either of them bringing up the impending training simulation that Batman had recently announced to them. He could only imagine that the thought of the simulation was at the forefront of Dick's mind and managing to avoid was an impressive feat. The boy no doubt was drilling it into his head that he had to impress his mentor and that this was his chance to prove himself or whatever it was that he was constantly trying to do.

Wally absently kicked a loose piece of the road, watching as it bounced along the parking lot, traveling at one point perfectly down the center of a worn, faded yellow parking stall line before coming to rest by a manhole. Wally was actually very glad it was still light out, having the feeling that his situation would have the possibility of being very eerie if it was dark. Looking up, he could just sense that the single street lamp lining the parking lot flickered when turned on and that the surrounding buildings were abandoned and housed escaped prisoners from Alcatraz. Most likely ghosts.

At that moment, the door to one of the 'abandoned' buildings opened and a girl walked out, two large bags in her hand. Wally's attention immediately shifted and he began to consider a move to California, near the Golden Gate Bridge, because, seriously, if this is what the ghosts from Alcatraz looked like, he couldn't wait to meet the current residents. The girl had blonde hair, wavy like all the popular movie stars, and her eyes were an amazing color, whatever color they were as Wally couldn't decide. They looked to be a mix between the color of chocolate cake, strawberry ice cream, his mom, and the stars. Gorgeous. The way she walked made Wally's heart melt and he barely held back the impulse to run full-speed at her, pick her up, and just keep running. As it happened, he simply ran over to her at human speed and ended nearly running into her.

"Hey," Wally put on his best charming smile and tried not let it show that he was sweating buckets. "A little late for someone like you to be ou-"

She shrieked and next thing Wally knew, his eyes were burning and he smelled pepper.

"Ah! Ah!" He yelped, his hands going up and pawing at his eyes while he danced around, trying to somehow alleviate the pain. "What was that for?" He moaned, trying to open his eyes and relocate the girl.

"_Restes loin de moi! Ne me touches pas!" _

"Agh! I don't know what you are saying!" Wally groaned, now trying to locate the girl with his hands.

"_Imbécile!" _

Wally felt a sharp slap on his hand and then heard clicking and the sound of angry, fading French.

"Uh, um, _merci_, _merci_?" Wally called desperately, his hands still rubbing at his burning eyes. "_Oui, oui! _Ah, _bonjour_?"

A car door slammed, followed by the roar of an engine and the screeching of tires. Wally sighed, slumping to the ground as he buried his face in his jacket and tried still to rid his eyeballs of the pepper spray. Suddenly he wasn't in the mood to think anymore. He wanted to be home, dunking his face in a bucket of water as he made up fantasy girls who spoke English and carried around whip cream and not dangerous spices in cans. But he wasn't really sure how he was going to find the zeta beam if he couldn't see.

oOo

Dick sighed, leaning back and staring up at the sky, his mind aching. Barbara's hair was tickling his cheek, the smell of her shampoo assailing his senses. It smelled good. Her arm was touching his as they both lay on the roof of Dick's bedroom, their eyes trained upwards at the vast expanse of sky. Robin had a training simulation tomorrow and Dick's mind was in a flurry of nervousness. It was his big chance to prove to Batman that he could take care of himself; that he could be all that Batman wanted him to be. Maybe then, finally, the Dark Knight would trust him again. If he could be just like him….

"Dick, what are thinking about?"

Dick glanced over at Barbara, his eyes sad as he gazed upon her puzzled features. It had been a while since they'd hung out as Barbara and Dick and the boy hated to ruin it with his problems. Not to mention the fact that whenever he saw her, he felt guilty about keeping the fact that he was Robin from her. How cruel could he get, not telling his best friend that he was both of the two people she hung out with the most? He must've been doing a good job of hiding it, though…. Which led him to the question of how different were Dick and Robin? And which one was him? Who was he, without either mask on?

"I'm just… thinking." Dick replied quietly, rolling his shoulders slightly as a shingle began to dig into his back.

"Yeah, I know that. What about?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" Barbara punched his arm softly. "Must be some pretty interesting nothing to hold your attention so well."

"I'm sorry," Dick smiled softly at her, trying to chase all thoughts out of his head.

"No, it's okay, it's just been a while since-"

"-Since we've hung out, I know." Dick slowly sat up, his head hanging. He suddenly didn't feel comfortable being so close to Barbara after all the time they'd been apart. But _not_ really apart….

"No, it's okay, it's not just you." Barbara sat as well and Dick could feel her steady gaze on his face. "I've been really busy too. Gymnastics has gotten really intense."

Dick nodded, though he knew that it wasn't gymnastics taking up all her time. It hurt, to know that she wasn't aware of all the time they'd spent together; that she thought they were possibly growing apart. He wanted to tell her, he really did. But not now. If Batman found out…. If Cadmus got a hold of her…. He couldn't afford to make any more mistakes and lose whatever trust Batman had in him….

"But we're together now." Barbara brought his attention back and he looked up at her face. "Just us."

Suddenly he found his face moving closer to her as hers moved closer to him their bodies seemingly acting of their own accord. They slowly inched closer and closer, the smell of vanilla and grapefruit assailing Dick's senses in a soothing type of way. The closer they got, the louder it got, as the world rushed away on a swell of the tide. Everything else was slowly fading away as the distance closed faster and faster. One inch left; now a half an inch; now a quarter and then…. The space in between was gone, suddenly no more as Dick felt himself sink away, all thoughts forgotten and the idea of anything ever mattering again seeming more and more absurd.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Oh, Dick, if only you knew how wrong you were. End of stage two! Or phase or act or whatever I've been calling them. This was the last 'happy, carefree' chapter, so enjoy it. And I hope you liked Wally's little bit. I cannot wait to post the next chapter! (I always write one chapter ahead of what I post, so I always have the next chapter written before I post the one before it.) We are in the last stage of the story, so that means nearing the end. Sorta.

Thank you for reading! Please review and tell me what you think! Or whatever you want, I guess.

Alex out.


	17. Shattered

**A/N: **So, a song that I think describes Artemis and Dick's relationship: Name by Goo Goo Dolls. Listen to it at the end of this chapter. You'll know when ;).

And thank you to all the people who clicked the little buttons at the bottom of the screen!

**Masqueraded Angel: **Thank you! And just thought you should know, every time I see your name, I start singing the song from Phantom of the Opera.

**Darkninja457: **Oh good, I was worried about that one. Glad you liked it.

**BloodyBlackBlossom: **:D Since I started posting? Wow, thank you!

**Brightpath2: **Well, yeah, I'm sure she'll be a great driver. She's just too distracted I think. Thank you!

**Dr. CraneSlaysDemons1234: **Thank you!

**READINGhearts17: **I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear that. ;)

**SeeSea17: **Haha, thanks!

**KaliAnn: **Thank you! And yeah, surprising…..

**not-exactly-the-truth: **Thank you! And yeah, guess you'll find out!

**Sparrow-DawnUNITE: **Haha, yeah, that part was a little weird…. It just came to me, I guess. And yes, yes he will….

**Guelio: **Good, I'm glad you do. Thanks!

**XxNeonShadowsxX: **Wow, that was like a novel! Thanks, I love it! Oh yes, problems in the future abound. Poor Kaldur is right. Yeah, I was told the whole bomb thing when I was learning to drive too…. Thank you so much for all the nice words! It's whelming, really…. Wow, I think that words a little overused ;)

**Hana-Liatris: **You tell them! And thank you very much!

**Kelly1432: **Haha, glad you liked that part. And Zatanna's there, just not really a part of the story I guess…

**Soccernin19: **Thank you so much!

And onto the chapter!

* * *

><p>Artemis was gone. Batman was gone. Gone, just like that. Disintegrated by alien technology, leaving nothing - <em>nothing<em> - behind. Nothing except him. They'd left him alone, again, just like that night so many years ago where his entire world had come crashing down. It wouldn't be long before it fell again and this time, he wasn't sure he'd be able to pick up the pieces. This time, he was sure it would shatter him. Artemis was gone. Batman was gone. And now, Aqualad was gone. Now, he was the leader. And he couldn't afford to let the others fall as well. If he would crumble, it would be later, alone, and only him. He didn't want to drag anyone else down with him.

"Our next mission is clear," Robin announced, pulling up a screen in front of the remaining Team. "If we believe the aliens have been teleporting their victims-" he had to give them hope.

"-Which we do." Kid Flash interrupted, glaring down at Robin. It was working.

"Then the only reasonable detention facility is their mother ship." Robin swiped the screen on his gauntlet computer and a picture of a weird, spiky, fruit-like object appeared on the screen. "It's located in Smallville. Or, what used to be Smallville. Ring any bells?" He turned to Martian Manhunter who was sitting behind the Team.

"No, I'm afraid not."

"Well, it's the only thing we got." Robin turned to face the rest of the Team, already outlining a plan. "Superboy, you'll create a distraction."

"No!" Miss Martian stepped forward angrily, a glare on her face that Robin had only seen when she was fighting villains. "He's offering you as a sacrifice!" She turned to her boyfriend, worry playing across her features. "Aqualad would never do that." She glared at Robin again.

"You're right. Aqualad would sacrifice himself." Robin returned her glare full force, hating himself for it, but knowing it's what Batman would do. "A mistake that just cost us our leader." He paused to let it sink in before continuing. "Superboy is the most likely to be perceived as a threat, causing the aliens to deploy troops against him."

"Worst case scenario," Kid Flash stepped up behind Robin. "He's teleported inside the spiky thing and we set him free with Artemis. And Aqualad and everybody else."

Robin nodded; even if it wasn't true, he was glad to have Kid Flash on his side.

"He's right," Superboy turned to Miss Martian. "It's what Superman would do."

Robin only hoped he was right.

oOo

Sighing slightly, Robin lowered the binoculars from the front of his face and turned to the Martian girl next to him.

"Stay close to J'onn," he told her. "He still kinda…." He wiggled his hand, back and forth, hoping she'd get what he meant.

Miss Martian only nodded and Robin could tell she was still mad at him for sending Superboy out as a distraction. And surprised she knew the concept of the silent treatment. He hoped he wouldn't lose her friendship, but there was too much at stake to care at the moment.

"Alright, first team, deploy."

The two Martians took off into the sky, grasping hands before disappearing. Robin stood silent, waiting for the signal, absently fingering the bombs strapped to his chest. He could feel the clone's presence next to him and only hoped that he wasn't angry at him as well. Of course he deserved to be, and Robin even hated himself for making Superboy do this, ripping him away from M'gann, crushing her world, but deep inside, he didn't want to turn his Team, all he had left, against him.

"_Ready and in position." _M'gann's voice travelled through Robin's mind. _"And be careful, Conner. I love you." _

Robin turned to the clone and nodded. Superboy nodded back before leaping into the air, his yell filling the night. Kid Flash skidded to a halt beside the acrobat and Robin wasted no time in climbing on his back, listening as Superboy began to rip apart the alien base.

"_Careful,"_ Robin warned as Superboy ripped a cannon off the ship. _"Don't disconnect the power source." _

"Ready?" Kid Flash asked, moving his goggles into place over his eyes.

"Ready as I'll ever be." Robin whispered. Kid Flash was the only he would ever show doubt too. Or the only one left, that is.

"It'll work, don't worry." The speedster swiveled his head to look at the younger boy. "We'll go in, rescue our mentors, Artemis, Aqualad, blow the ship to pieces and get out."

"Right."

"_Now or never." _Superboy's voice rang through their heads.

Kid Flash turned back around and shot off, gaining speed until the scenery was less than a blur, his course, straight for the mother ship. He cleared the gap and landed, Robin rolling off him and back onto his feet as they hurried inside the doors, ducking behind a pillar as some flying crafts sped out of the hanger. Once it was clear, Robin motioned for Kid Flash to follow him, moving quickly across the hanger while trying not to be seen. A clang sounded behind them and Robin spun around, coming face to face with the two Martian's, a destroyed spider-like thing lying on the floor.

Nodding in thanks, Robin motioned them to follow him as well, relying on instinct and observation to find his way into the center of ship. It was well constructed and resembled reinforced tunnels and Robin couldn't help remembering their first official mission involving Bane and Kobra. The Team had come a long way since then; they were just beginning to really feel like a family, but now –

"_Ah!" _

Miss Martian's cry resounded through the mental link. Robin skidded to a halt, turning quickly to see Martian Manhunter holding his niece as she held her head in pain. That could only mean….

"_No, he's gone!"_

She collapsed to the ground, Kid Flash already running over to kneel beside her. Robin stood back, watching. It was his fault. He'd ordered Superboy to his death.

"_It's alright!" _Kid Flash held her shoulders, trying to reassure her. _"We'll find him with Artemis, I'm sure of it." _

"_No." _Robin winced as J'onn spoke, his voice in their heads. _"My mind is clearer now. The disintegration ray is just that. There is no detention facility." _

Robin closed his eyes, knowing that the ruse was up. Hopefully they would still be with him. Still be willing to carry on with the mission.

"_There are no prisoners to rescue. Our mission holds no purpose." _Unless Martian Manhunter opened his big mouth.

"_No!" _Kid Flash stood up, his eyes blazing in anger. _"No, you're wrong! Artemis is still alive. The zeta radiation proves it. They're not gone. They're not!"_

"_KF," _Robin rounded on the speedster, grabbing the front of his uniform and glaring up into his face. _"They're gone. I've been scanning for League and Team signals since we arrived. There's nothing. Artemis is gone. Everyone is gone. I'm sorry." _Robin released Kid Flash, letting his hand fall to his side. He had to hide his emotions, but it wasn't easy when everyone else was letting theirs run rampant. _"Our mission still holds purpose, though." _He continued, turning away. _"We have to destroy this mother ship." _

As they started off again, Robin urged himself faster, trying to outrun all the thoughts passing through his head. Batman was gone. His mentor, his guardian, was dead. He wouldn't allow his mind to wrap around the idea; not yet. He had to hold it together. He had to be strong when no one else could. The world was burning. He had to save it. It's what Batman would do. Batman would be strong. Batman would hide his emotions; bury them down deep so he could complete the mission. But Batman was gone, so now it was up to Robin.

They reached the core of the ship, and Robin turned to what remained of the Team, his face a mask of determination.

"_This is it."_ He told them, staring each of them in the eye. _"If we can destroy this mother ship, we can end this. But I need your complete focus; everything for this mission."_

Kid Flash nodded, his gaze never wavering from his best friends face. Miss Martian nodded as well and Robin was glad to see her features hardening up, though J'onn still looked rather dazed.

"_Good. Let's go." _

They reached the core of the ship fairly quickly and, once Robin ran scans to insure that it actually was the core and not just some other giant, fiery sphere floating around, he signaled and they split; him and Kid Flash sprinting for the core while the two Martians covered them.

Once out on the bridge, Robin could feel the core pulling on him, but he advanced steadily. After a few more steps, the pull became too strong and he felt himself being pulled over. On the ground, a hand grabbed his wrist and he looked up to see Kid Flash grasping his wrist, trying to pull him back. It didn't work, though, and the two heroes were sucked backwards, quickly being pulled towards the glowing interior of the core. Robin shot out a grappler and for a minute they hung there while the two Martian's took out a surveillance craft.

Landing on a platform above the boys, Miss Martian telekinetically lowered them to the ground in the center of the core. Once his feet hit the ground, Robin unstrapped the bombs from around his chest and laid them out, aware of Kid Flash's gaze on his face. Kid Flash's sad, broken gaze. Trying to shake off his rising emotions, Robin set the timer, the ends of the bombs beginning to blink red as his gauntlet computer started the countdown. Four minutes and it would all be over.

Robin stood and nodded to the speedster and the two sprinted for the door, out of the core and away from the bombs. Except that the door was closed. Robin skidded to a halt next to his friend, his eyes wide as he realized their escape route was… no longer existent. Kid Flash's mouth was open in shock as the two Martian's floated in from above along with a group of surveillance crafts, their blasters trained at the group of heroes. As they fired, the acrobat and speedster ducked behind a cubby in the wall while the Martian's hid on the opposite side of the corridor.

"_Twenty-five seconds and counting." _Robin announced, his gaze going across to Miss Martian and J'onn. _"Manhunter, take Miss Martian and go." _

"_We won't leave you!" _M'gann protested.

"_We'll follow; as soon as we blow those doors." _

Reluctantly she nodded and the two Martians melted into the floor. Robin turned to Kid Flash, silently apologizing. Apologizing for failing as leader and getting nearly all the Team killed. Apologizing for failing as a friend; for letting Kid Flash get hurt.

"You knew." Kid Flash whispered, his eyes widening slightly in surprise. "You knew all along. You knew there were no prisoners. You knew that wasn't our true mission."

Robin only nodded.

"You knew Artemis was gone. You knew that the League was gone. You knew, and yet you still sacrificed Superboy, still tried to keep us believing in… a lie."

"I'm sorry." Robin throat was tight but forced himself to talk. "I knew, but I also knew you would never follow me unless I kept you believing they were alive. I needed you. The world needed you. I'm sorry."

Wally nodded, his eyes sad as they stared into Robin's. "Anything, for the mission, right?"

Robin turned away, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Hey, it worked."

Silence, then: "Ten seconds."

"We can't blow the doors, can we?"

Dick shook his head. "I already calculated; we don't have anything strong enough."

Wally nodded, his gaze meeting Robin's and silent agreement passed between the two. Without another look, they leaped out of their hiding place and rushed at their enemies, the doors forgotten behind them as the countdown continued:

_00:05…_

Robin threw a batarang, his fingers hyper-aware of every curve and every point of the weapon he so often held in his hand.

_00:0 4…_

As the shape of the bat flew through the air, the realization that the real Bat was gone hit Robin hard, like a hundred tons of brick and he nearly doubled over in pain. Batman, Bruce, was really gone. And soon, he would be too.

_00:0 2…_

He'd sacrificed everything for the mission. His Team, his friends, himself. He did what Batman would have done. The world was going to be saved. It would go on. But, was it worth it? _It's what Batman would do. _He'd been chanting that in his head the past months, somehow hoping that he would be able to prove himself to his mentor. Show him he could take it. But now, the man was gone. Where did that leave him?

_00:0 1…_

Robin shot one last look at Kid Flash and saw fiery determination in his eyes, but also sadness, and fear. Dick steeled himself, his face hard as he prepared for the explosion they both knew would come. Wally threw one last small smile, winking at Dick who closed his eyes, knowing it was the end. This was it. Everything for the mission. To save the world.

_00:00_

oOo

Robin sat up, gasping. He sat there, panting, his senses slowly reawakening as he got his breathing under control. The first thing he became aware was that he was wearing his civilian clothes and that his sunglasses were slipping off his sweaty nose. He quickly shoved them back up, eyes shooting around himself as he did so. He was in a room, on a stone slab. And… he wasn't alone. Aqualad, Superboy, Artemis, Kid Flash, and Miss Martian were all waking up around him and behind them… the League? That meant….

Robin spun around and came face to face with his mentor, dressed in the Batsuit and an impassive look on his face. Batman was alive. He, Robin, was alive. The Team, the League, they were all alive. Robin was suddenly overcome with emotion and he turned away from his mentor, letting one leg hang over the side of the stone slab as tears began falling down his cheeks. He made no move to wipe them away and hence draw attention to them. And besides, he didn't think he had the strength to lift his hand anyway. He'd just watched his whole world crumble, only to wake up and find –

"It was a training simulation." Martian Manhunter's voice carried across the room.

"A train for fail simulation." Batman added, not moving from his place in the corner of the room. "It was designed so that you would have to take over for the League and save the planet, but that no matter what you did, the situation would keep getting worse."

"But you knew that it was a simulation throughout. Or, at least, you were supposed to." Martian Manhunter still looked dizzy as he leaned against M'gann's slab, a hand resting on his head.

"That is why none of you mourned when your mentors were killed." Batman continued, walking slowly towards the center of the room.

"Until Artemis died." Here the Martian looked distraught. "That's when the situation got away from me. Once Artemis died, she was supposed to wake up but instead she went into a coma. M'gann had unintentionally altered your subconscious' to believe that Artemis really had died. She has one of the strongest telepathic minds I know and I lost control of the simulation."

"So, you're telling us," Wally was sitting on his slab, his gaze twitching between Artemis and J'onn. "That this was all a training simulation."

"That is correct."

Robin's mind was reeling. A training simulation? All this had been a training simulation? In the back of his mind he was half aware of Martian Manhunter going on about what had gone wrong and such, but he couldn't focus. He'd just watched everyone he cared about die, and half of it had been his fault. He'd just sent his Team to their deaths, thinking he was saving the world, only to find out it was a rigged training simulation. Sure, they were alive, but they still knew what he'd done. Knew what he was willing to do for the mission. _Like Batman, _his mind whispered. Like Batman. The whole time he'd been asking himself what Batman would do.

Anger began coursing through him, stronger than he'd felt in a long time. The sadness he'd been feeling, the loss, was slowly being washed out as violent tides of anger rolled in. What Batman would do? Why had he asked himself that? He knew what Batman did. He sacrificed everything for the mission. Everything. He'd keep secrets and send people to their deaths for the sake of the missions. He'd become distant if he had to. He'd completely cut himself off from someone just to protect them. He'd ignore them, keep them in the dark, and lose all faith in them. Sounds nice, doesn't it? No. He no longer trusted Robin, with anything. Anything. And he'd wanted to be like that? Not anymore.

oOo

"…_.I thought I'd grow up and become him…. That thing, inside of him, the thing that drives him to sacrifice everything for the sake of his mission… that's not me. I don't want to be the Batman anymore…." _[**1**]

Dick curled up further into himself, his chin resting on his knees as he stared out the window at the driving rain. It came down steadily, pounding against the glass, a monotonous drone that became the soundtrack for Dick's thoughts. It was rhythmic, in a keyless, flat way, the rain always falling, tiny drops hitting the window, one after another, never allowing a break from the beat. Dick's arms were wrapped around his legs, his forehead pressed against the cold glass, trying to alleviate the pain slowly building inside his head.

It was late, past midnight, but Bruce still hadn't said a word to Dick all night. After the Team had been dismissed, Robin had stormed off, taking the zeta beam back to the Batcave, not giving Batman a second glance. As far as he knew, Batman hadn't even noticed he'd gone. Once he'd gotten home, he'd gone straight to his room, even ignoring Alfred's protests of 'no costumes in the house'. He'd been in his room since then, the door locked, not accepting dinner from the butler. He'd heard Bruce come home a few hours ago, but the man hadn't made any move to even go upstairs.

Dick's fingers clenched, his arms tightening around his legs as he closed his eyes. He wanted to run, to leave, to get away; to forget everything from the past twenty-four hours and to just… be.

_Tap tap_

Dick's eyes shot open to see a finger tapping on the glass outside, right over his right eye. The boy looked up, alarm bells beginning to go off in his exhausted body until he saw a familiar streak of blonde hair. Dick stood up and grasped the edge of the window, yanking it sideways until it finally slid open.

"I was wondering if you'd ever notice me." Artemis crawled through the window, her clothes and hair soaking wet.

"Um, I think I know you?" Dick gave the girl a confused look, assessing her as if trying to remember who she was.

"The game is up, Sherlock. Stop acting."

Dick sighed in defeat. If he'd been feeling better he might've tried to hold out a little longer, but he was exhausted and upset and, even though he didn't want to admit it, lonely. And besides, what did he care anymore what Bruce thought about his identity?

"How'd you find out?" He asked, shoving the window shut.

"It wasn't that hard." Artemis jumped to the ground, landing on the rug. "When you broke your ankle on the Injustice League mission? You came to school with crutches. It took a lot for me to believe it, but I could see the similarities. Despite how much nerdier Dick is."

"Thanks." He mumbled, wiping rain off his face.

"Yeah, sure."

"Well, not that I don't appreciate midnight visitors, but what are you doing here?"

"Not gonna swear me to secrecy?" Artemis asked, an eyebrow raised.

Dick shook his head, sitting back down on the window seat. "I trust you."

"But does Batsy?"

"Doesn't matter. You are dripping on my rug though."

"Hmph," the archer grumbled, moving off the carpet. "Where's your bathroom?"

Dick raised a hand and pointed behind her.

"Great." She made her way over to the sink and Dick watched she began squeezing out her hair, twisting it up to try to rid it of its water. Once she was done, she moved onto her clothes, standing over the bathtub, but getting most of the water on the floor.

"You know," She called, her voice echoing slightly off the tiled walls. "Your house is huge. Like, bigger than I imagined. And I imagined big."

"Thanks, I think." Dick muttered, one eyebrow slightly raised. "How did you get in? Bruce has high security surrounding this place."

"Babs."

"Oh."

After a minute, Artemis walked out of the bathroom, still wet, but not dripping.

"I'd offer you dry clothes, but…"

"Shorty."

"Shut it."

The archer made her way over to the younger boy, sitting down across from him on the window seat. Dick stared down at his feet, not making eye contact.

"You know," Artemis began, her eyes travelling over Dick's body. "I still can't believe that you're Dick Grayson. I mean, I guess I can see it with your hair down, but you sure do a good job of hiding it."

Dick only nodded. Artemis's presence had lifted him slightly out from under his thunder cloud, but it was still pouring where he stood.

"Listen, Rob – er, Dick, we're all shaken up by the simulation-"

"That's what this is about."

"You stormed out of Mount Justice. Wally said he's been calling you for the past two hours and you haven't picked up."

"You talk to Wally now?"

Artemis clenched her teeth and looked up at the ceiling, causing Dick to nearly crack a small smile. But he refrained.

"Sometimes; on a need to basis. But the point is, he's worried about you."

Dick shook his head, bringing his knees back up to his chest. He could feel Artemis's eyes on him, but he still refused to meet her gaze.

"It couldn't have been that bad…."

"You weren't there, Artemis, you have no idea." Dick unintentionally growled the last bit and he saw the look of alarm on the archer's face out of the corner of his eye. "I ordered Superboy to his death. I got me and Wally trapped in an exploding space station. I sacrificed everything, for my mission."

"Dick, I-"

"No, Artemis, whatever you're gonna say, it's not true. I just…. All this time, I've been trying to do what Batman would do; I wanted him to trust me again, so I tried to prove myself to him. During the simulation, that was the only thing on my mind: what would Batman do. And Batman, he was already gone. I was doing it, because I thought it was the only way. I thought I had to be Batman." Dick buried his face in his knees, his hands going up to grip his hair. "It wasn't about proving myself anymore, it was about becoming him."

"Dick, you were just trying get rid of the aliens-"

"By sacrificing everybody I cared about. Artemis, that's not me."

"Dick, you-"

"I don't know who I am anymore." Dick wrapped his arms around his head, his teeth clenched in anger and frustration. He felt a pressure on his shoulder and could the warmth of Artemis's breath on his neck, but he still couldn't bring himself to look at her.

An immeasurable amount of time passed; the two young people didn't move from their positions, as though frozen in time. To Dick, it felt like it. He had no idea how much time had passed before he finally looked up, his eyes holding a lost look in them, but his face a mask of steely resolve. He felt exhausted, but knew there was no way he would be able to sleep at the manor.

"I'm going out."

"What?" Artemis's face looked stunned.

"I said: I'm going out." Dick eyed her, wondering how bad he could possibly look to make her look at him like that.

Artemis snorted, covering her face with her hand, but Dick could see the smile in her eyes.

"What?" He demanded, eyebrows narrowing and arms crossing.

"You – you're voice. It sounds," She cleared her throat, removing her hand from her face, "Russian-Italian or something."

Dick raised an eyebrow and almost asked her what the heck she was talking about before clapping his hands over his mouth, his eyes growing wide. Stupid accent. He stood up, ignoring Artemis's confused looks and snatched his jacket from his bed, grabbing his baseball hat and jamming it on his head before pulling his sweatshirt hood up over it. Then he yanked the black jacket on and slipped his feet into his shoes before climbing back up on the window seat and beginning to pull the window back open.

"Where're you going?"

"Out. I need some time to think." Dick winced at the accent in his voice and made a conscious effort to speak normally.

"With crazy psychopaths after you?" Artemis grabbed his arm, glaring at him.

"Let me go."

The girl sighed, rolling her eyes. "Seriously, why do you talk like that?"

"I'm tired. It happens."

"Where do you even come from?"

"Look it up."

"Rob – Dick – whoever you are, don't be stupid. There's criminals being paid to hunt you down."

"Really? I hadn't noticed." Dick scowled at her, yanking his arm out of her grasp. "Just let me go."

"No." Artemis growled, her eyes flashing dangerously. "I'm a hero, my job is to save people, got it?"

Dick froze, scowl falling off his face. His head dropped, but his hand didn't move from the window. "I'm just gonna go to Wally's." He murmured.

"Fine."

He wasn't.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Dun dun dun! We're closing in on the climax !

[**1**]: Disordered hasn't happened yet. Those are just the thoughts kinda floating around in his head.

Thanks for reading and please review! Tell me your thoughts, your rants, your anger, your hate, your love, your like, your desire Robin and Artemis to run away together (JK, that's not gonna happen. Don't worry).

Alex out.


	18. We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are

**A/N: **Ah, I'm so excited!

Thanks to all y'all reviewers and favoriters and followers!

**mixxi: **Haha, oh dear.

**not-exactly-the-truth: **I hope so and thanks!

**Sparrow-DawnUNITE: **Don't worry, I won't ;). And yes, tis true.

**Dr. CraneSlaysDemons1234: **Awesome sauce!

**READINGhearts17: **Yeah, poor kid.

**Brightpath2: **Haha, yeah, well, she tried. And I'm glad you think so, thanks.

**KaliAnn: **Guess we'll find out!

**Kelly1432: **I don't know. That kid. And thank you!

**XxNeonShadowsxX: **Thank you buckets! Smack away.

**Guelio: **Thanks thanks!

**Darkninja457: **Brightens your day? Hm, well, you're probably the first. ;) Thank you!

**SeeSea17: **Crazy…. Hmm, I like it! Thank you!

**Ravenietta: **Here is more!

**Daughter of Artemis and Cahill: **Nah, don't worry, it's all good! Thanks!

**Soccernin19: **Yeah, guess he can't. Thanks!

**Masqueraded Angel: **Awesome sauce!

**Hana-Liatris: **Thank you!

**MechaBunny: **Don't worry, I will! And thanks!

**Anonymous: **;) Thanks.

Thank you guys for all the input! It helps a ton! And as you can see, we are almost up to 200 reviews! So, like last time, I will write a one-shot of choice for the 200th reviewer! I will tell you details if you are it!

So for this next chapter, the song Shattered by Trading Yesterday was a big inspiration as was We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are by Rich Mullins. You can listen to them during the story (Shattered first) and it will add such emotion! (I hope). I'd also like to thank my dear friend [has not chosen name] for all the help he/she's given! If wasn't for he/she I seriously do not think this story would have been continued. So, thank you all and now the chapter:

* * *

><p>Dick was soaked to the bone by the time he reached the apartment complex, his clothes sticking to his skin and draping off him like rags and his shoes squelching as he walked. Wet socks sucked. The boy wasted no time in pulling open the door to the atrium, letting it fall shut against the darkness of the night. He made his way over to the list of room numbers and occupants on the wall, his eyes scanning the list until he located the one he was looking for. Top floor. Figures. Dick exited the building and circled around the back, eyes searching for numbers on doors. He finally gave up, figuring that they were only visible on the inside, and instead looked for a way to scale the building.<p>

He managed to locate a tree near the east corner, tall, with branches extending almost onto one of the balconies. The acrobat leaped up, climbing nimbly up to the right height before scurrying across a protruding branch until it began to bend and then jumping onto the balcony. He landed in a crouch, silent as a ghost, before taking in the appearance of the balcony. Not the right one. He flipped across onto the next-door railing and did the same, repeating this until he landed on the last balcony on that side of the building. His eyes took in the scuffs on the railing, the muddy boot prints on the rug, and the two shafts lying on the ground next to a dead plant. This was it.

Dick slid his sunglasses on before trying the sliding glass door. He found that it was locked so instead began rapping insistently, but rhythmically on the window. It was quiet, so as not to wake the neighbors, but also steadily so as to be easily mistaken for something else did they happen to hear it. After a minute or so of knocking the blinds drawn over the door were wrenched open and a very familiar face peered through the glass. The face scowled upon seeing Dick, though it saw Robin, but proceeded to unlock the door and throw it open.

"What are doing here?"

"You should really water your plants, Roy." Dick's voice was quiet as he pushed past the older man, not in the mood for a spat.

"I never invited you in."

Dick shrugged, watching as Roy, who he now noticed was dressed only in sweatpants, closed the door and slid the blinds back in place. The apartment was large, for an apartment for one; the room they stood in had a large TV against one wall, a leather couch on the other with a chair and a coffee table as well. The room led to another, presumably a kitchen and then a hallway branched off which most likely led to the bedroom. The current room was spacious, sparsely decorated and lacking furniture, but Dick could tell that it was a nice apartment.

"Nice place," he muttered, shivering slightly in his damp clothes.

"What are you doing here?" Roy crossed his arms, looking ticked off. "And why are you wet?"

"It's raining in Gotham. And I haven't seen you in a while; wanted to stop by."

"Likely."

Dick shrugged, wanting nothing more than to get out of his wet clothes but not wanting to give Roy any satisfaction. Why had he come here anyway?

"Listen, Wonder Boy-"

"You sound like Artemis."

Roy glared. "If you're not gonna tell me what you're doing here then I'm gonna call the cops."

"Low blow."

Roy continued glaring, obviously not very happy about being woken up at two in the morning. His hair stuck up at odd angles and he was shirtless, his eyes still bleary with sleep.

"Fine," Dick muttered. "I need a place to stay tonight."

"What, Batsy kick you out?"

"Doesn't matter."

"You ran away?" Roy's eyes widened slightly. "Wow, Rob, didn't think you had it in you. Seriously though, go home."

"Why?"

"Because someone will be looking for you."

"Highly unlikely." Bruce probably wouldn't even notice he was gone.

"Listen, kid, you can't run away from your problems."

"Learn by example."

"GA was holding me back. He didn't trust me. He lied to me and kept things from me that I had a right to know."

"Join the party."

"You're too young."

"Shut up, Roy."

To the archer's credit, he did.

"If you're not gonna let me in, fine, I'll go somewhere else." Dick shivered at the idea of going back out into the cold night air, but tried not to let it show. "Just thought maybe you'd understand."

Roy looked like he was going to argue some more, but then his shoulders slumped and he sighed. "Fine. I'll get some dry clothes. Stay here, don't get the carpet wet." And he turned and headed down the hallway.

Normally, Dick would've smirked to himself, but now, smiling didn't come easily to him. Instead he just nodded and proceeded to kick off his wet shoes and socks, glad to be rid of them, even if the tile by the door was cold on his bare feet. His jacket came next, getting dropped unceremoniously on the floor followed by his sweatshirt and hat until he stood only in a black t-shirt and jeans. Roy appeared again shortly, his upper half now clothed in a t-shirt and a bundle of clothes in his arms which he handed to Dick.

"They'll be big. Your fault."

Dick rolled his eyes and grabbed the clothes, brushing past Roy and heading towards the hallway.

"Bathroom's first door on the left."

Dick was already shutting door. Roy was right, the clothes were huge. He'd given Dick a pair of sweatpants and a shirt; the pants didn't even stay up and Dick had to use the belt from his jeans on them and even then, it looked like he was wearing a blanket around his waist and the shirt came down to his knees. He ended up folding it over and rolling it up so he could walk as well as folding the waist of the sweatpants and rolling up the legs. He still looked like he was drowning, but at least he was dry.

Upon reentering the main room, Dick found Roy sitting on the couch, his feet propped up, a coffee mug in his hands and the TV on.

"That's a good look for you, Robbie."

Dick ignored him, shuffling over to the couch and sitting down next to the older boy, curling his feet underneath him to keep them warm. Roy forgot to give him socks. On the screen there was some sort of middle of the night, low budget, comedy-wannabe show about what looked like Darth Vader entering stores and scaring customers. Roy didn't look very interested.

"Here," the older boy handed Dick a mug. "It's hot chocolate."

"Thanks," Dick mumbled, taking the cup in his hands and staring into it at the rich brown liquid.

"So, you and Batman had a fight?" Roy turned down the volume on the TV as he spoke, Darth Vader's breathing slowly becoming less obtrusive.

"Not… really." There hadn't actually been a fight yet.

"But he made you angry."

Dick nodded, blowing gently on his hot chocolate.

"And you took off without confronting him about it? If you did that with everything, Joker would rule Gotham."

"You don't understand."

Roy snorted, raising an eyebrow at Dick who just glared back.

"You ran away too. Stomped out and never came back. If you did that with everything, Joker would rule the whole world."

"Rob…." Roy set his mug down, running a hand through his hair before standing up and turning off the TV. "I made a mistake. I shouldn't've left like that, but it's too late now." He turned and walked towards the hallway before stopping at the entrance. "You can sleep on the couch. Blankets are in the closet behind you. Just… don't do something you'll regret."

oOo

"_I don't want to be the Batman, anymore…." _

_It's clear that I can't be what he wants anymore. _

Robin stopped trying. He stopped trying to impress Batman, to prove himself, to gain his trust. He couldn't do it, so why try?

"_Dick, where have you been?" _

"_Doesn't matter." _

"_It very much does matter. You were gone all night. Again."_

What did it matter what he was doing? He needed to blow off steam. He was barely allowed to patrol anymore and the Team hadn't been getting any missions.

"_Dick – Robin – whoever you are…."_

Who was he? Robin was a hero, partner to the Dark Knight, saving the innocent of Gotham from the insane. He wasn't Batman's partner anymore. Nor was he even allowed save the innocent. But Dick, Dick was the genius mathlete, ward of Bruce Wayne. Where was Bruce Wayne? He sure hadn't been around. Neither had Dick. So he was faced with the question: who was he, without either mask on?

Batman is gone. Again. And so were all the other adults in the world. The answer comes quickly: Klarion. Zatanna manages to locate him and it isn't long before Doctor Fate defeats the witch boy, only to take Zatarra's body. The two worlds are rejoined, but the reunion is nonexistent. Alfred is happy to see him, but Bruce barely speaks to him, making sure he's okay before disappearing into the Batcave. That night Dick sneaks out and stays out all night, going nose to nose with the Riddler and is nearly defeated until a certain archer turns up and helps him kick the criminal's butt back into hiding. Shame they couldn't catch him.

"_Are you crazy, Robin? Out by yourself?" _

"_I can take care of myself." _

"_Obviously not."_

"_You don't understand." _

"_What, I don't understand that you're mad at Batman and take out your anger criminals?"_

"_What do you care?" _

"_I care about your _safety_."_

"_I can take care of myself." _

"_When I first met you, you amazed me. You've changed." _

It hurts. It feels like she was betraying him.

He has to lead his first mission. Batman put him in charge. He didn't understand why. He hates it the whole time. He doesn't want to lead, not after the simulation. He can't order anybody else to their deaths. He can't mess up again. But he does. Garfield Logan almost dies and it's his fault. He told the boy to stay in the house. Why would he think he would listen? M'gann saves him, but she shouldn't have to. When he gets home, he sneaks out again. This time, he goes to the Narrows. He doesn't care who he fights.

Soon he finds the Arena. Once owned by the Falcone's, now split between smaller crime lords, the Arena is an underground fighting ring, pitting whoever is willing to fight against the current champions. No doubt all the participators are criminals of some sort, which, really, helps ease Robin's conscious if anything. At first he doesn't come often, but as things escalate, it becomes more and more frequent. He never fights as Robin, of course, but under an alias. This way neither Cadmus nor Batman will ever know he was there. He soon becomes one of the big names, rising from a challenger to a champion. The spectators all talk about the wraith-fighter, the one who sneaks in, takes down all competition, and then sneaks out again, barely ever seen.

At first he feels ashamed, for sinking so low as to fight against criminals in a criminal-organized fight, but then he hears stories of the Bat. A man who used to fight in the Arena dressed as a Bat and who fought better than a trained assassin. After he hears that, he scowls and continues fighting. It's not like he's hurting anybody; they're criminals, it's what they deserve. Besides, Batman did it. But hadn't he decided he didn't want to be like Batman?

His grades begin dropping, all motivation gone from his work. He tries to keep them up; school was important to him; but he can't chase off the feeling that it's futile. He's more reserved at school, the hyper boy replaced by a more withdrawn figure. Barbara notices and won't stop asking him about it until he finally just snaps that he's tired. She leaves him alone after that.

"_Happy Birthday!"_

"_Fourteen? Wouldn't believe it by looking at you." _

His birthday is the first good thing that's happened in a long time. Artemis is teasing him again, Wally calls and Bruce even comes out of the Batcave and spends time with him. For a little bit, he thought things were getting better. Until the night on the roof….

They'd just gotten back from patrolling. Batgirl was thrilled to be finally allowed out on the field and couldn't stop talking about it. They were sitting on the roof of a semi-abandoned apartment, leaning back on their hands with their legs hanging over the edge of the roof. Robin was trying to enjoy himself, trying not to think about all that happened the past week, month; he wasn't proud of all he'd done. Sure, he hadn't done anything technically illegal… yet… but hadn't he always held himself to higher standards? Wait, but who? Dick Grayson? Or Robin? But was he really either of those two people?

"Robin?"

"Hmm?" Robin swiveled his head to face Batgirl.

"I don't think I've ever thanked you properly for, you know, all this." She motioned to herself, her new costume Robin managed to scrounge up over the past few months, her belt, one of his spares, the cowl he'd made.

"It wasn't that hard to get."

"No, I mean, for training me. For giving me a chance, even when you probably shouldn't have." She paused, a smile on her face, her ferocity from their previous fight with some thugs, gone. "Can you thank Batman for me? Seeing as he seems too busy to come see me himself." She added the last part a little suspiciously, but more in a joking way.

"Yeah, 'course." Just another lie. He'd been telling a lot of those recently.

"I just – can I trust you, Robin? I mean really trust you. With something important."

Robin knit his eyebrows together but nodded.

"After my mom died, I felt broken, like my life had fallen apart. I mean, it had fallen apart. My dad wasn't much help…." She paused, bringing her hands forward into her lap. "And I just felt so… so… broken that I'd never be fixed. But then you came, and showed me a new way of life. Fighting for the innocent, protecting families so that no one else would ever have to feel the pain I did. And it fixed me. At least, I thought it did. For a while I really thought I was okay. But…." Her eyes fell down to her hands in her lap. "I'm not so sure anymore. I mean, I my life is mostly back together and all, but I feel like…."

"There are pieces missing." They both spoke at the same time and they looked up at each other, Batgirl in shock and Robin with the same blank expression his face had held for the past who knows how long.

"Yeah, pieces missing." Batgirl murmured, her eyes searching the whites of his mask.

"Chinks in your armor." Robin looked down at his own gloved hands, eyes seeing the scarred wrists underneath and the loose bandages wrapped around them even now. "They're what define you, BG. It's because of those chinks that you are able to do what you do." He said the words, like well-rehearsed lines, but for once, he heart wasn't in it. He'd always known it was true; Alfred and Bruce had told him the same thing numerous times in their own ways, but at that moment, he wasn't even sure what he believed.

"Give me your hands." He suddenly said, his mouth speaking seemingly of its own volition. What was he doing?

Batgirl looked confused but held out her right hand.

"Both of them."

Both hands appeared before him.

He reached around behind her back and grasped her hands in his own. At first he had no idea what he was doing but then his mind went back to a night long ago when he sat on a different rooftop.

_The older man, his dark hair glistening in the moonlight, took the small boys hands in his own and linked the fingers together, pulling gently to test the strength. _

"_Strong, right? Solid, like armor." _

_The small boy nodded, his tear-streaked face confused. _

Robin linked Batgirl's fingers together and pulled gently on them.

"They're strong, right? Like armor."

Batgirl nodded, an eyebrow raised.

_The man then raised the small hands up until they covered they moon, completely blocking the pale, glowing orb in the sky. _

"_Solid, right? You can't see through it at all. It completely blocks out the light." _

_Again the boy nodded. _

Robin lifted Batgirl's hands until they were in front of the moon. The light was completely hidden.

"It covers all the light, because it's solid, like armor."

_Then the man gently spread apart the boy's fingers allowing small chinks to appear. _

"_Now there are holes in the armor," He said, showing the boy. _

Robin spread apart Batgirl's fingers, allowing the spaces to appear.

"Holes, see? Chinks in the armor."

Batgirl looked like she wanted to say something but instead just kept quiet and nodded again.

"_But look." The man again lifted up the boy's hands until they were in front of the moon, but this time, light slipped through the spaces between the fingers. "The chinks in the armor allow the light to come through." The man looked at the boy, his face serious, yet warm. "Without the holes, you block out the light. But with the holes, the light shines through. The chinks in your armor let the light shine through." _

Robin lifted Batgirl's hands up until they covered the moon again.

"Look," He whispered. "Now the light can shine through your fingers. Through the chinks in your armor. Through the spaces where the pieces are missing."

Batgirl looked at Robin, her eyes watery. Robin suddenly felt uncomfortable. What had he said? That night on the roof…. He'd completely forgotten about that until now. Why had he suddenly remembered? What had compelled him to tell Batgirl….?

"Robin, I-"

"Robin."

Robin's eyes widened at the sound of the gravelly voice and he spun around. The normally ominous figure looked even more terrifying, like some sort of monster grown from the shadows. The points on the cowl were like devils horns and the slits of the eyes seemed almost to glow red. Robin suddenly felt uncharacteristically frightened.

"B-Batma-" He stopped, the Darks Knight's glare silencing him.

"Batgirl," The figure ground out. "Come with me, now."

Batgirl glanced at Robin, her face a mask of confusion and slight fear, questioning what to do. Robin looked away, unable to meet her gaze. He'd never really had a plan for how this would all turn out, but he'd hoped it wouldn't be like this.

"Batgirl." This time it was louder.

Batgirl slowly rose to her feet, glancing between Robin and his mentor as she made her way over to where the dark shadow stood. Robin had to commend her bravery; he wasn't sure if he'd be able to walk over to _the_ Batman, the one whom all criminals (and people in general) feared, when he seemed mad at you and you had no idea why.

Once she reached him, Batman wrapped one arm around her body before whipping out a blindfold and wrapping it around her eyes. Robin sprang to his feet in surprise.

"Ah!" Batgirl screamed, surprised as she struggled to get out of the hold. A gloved hand went to cover her mouth and Robin watched as his mentor bent down and growled in her ear:

"I won't gag you as long as you stay quiet. We aren't the only ones out." The hand moved off her mouth but Batgirl remained silent, though still wiggled a little.

"Batman, you don't have to-" Again a glare silenced the boy.

"Robin, come." In those two words was more anger than Robin had ever heard directed at him from that mouth. It hurt and he winced before slowly shuffling across the roof towards the shadow. Once he reached his mentor he received a glare before the man readjusted his grip on the girl in his arms and shot out his grappler, letting it carry him off the building's roof. Robin followed, dreading what was to come.

Batman put Batgirl on the passenger side of the Batmobile and she and Robin sat close the whole way back. He tried to seem reassuring but it was hard when she couldn't see him. He could only imagine what was going through her head right now. As far as she knew, Batman had been indirectly in charge of her training and he'd just been waiting until she was ready to reveal himself to her. But instead he'd come and abducted her, sounding like he wanted to kill her. Well, maybe not that extreme, but it was close.

They arrived at the Batcave shortly, Batgirl being surprisingly complacent the whole time. It made Robin realize just how much she trusted him. Or did trust him. That trust would end in a matter of minutes. Robin helped guide Batgirl out of the Batmobile, but every time he came into contact with her it was as if it shocked him. Every touch hurt, knowing what was to come.

"Robin," Batman growled, turning on his partner once they were out of the vehicle. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I, Batman, I-"

"Why was I not informed of this?"

"Batman, I-"

"Wait, what?" Batgirl stepped forward, despite still being blindfolded and again, Robin was impressed by her courage. "I thought you said Batman authorized my training. That he was instructing me through you."

"_Training?_" The Dark Knight's jaw clenched and his face became, if possible, even harder. "_You trained her?" _

"Batman, I – I'm sorry, I just-"

"He didn't know?" Batgirl mouth was open slightly and Robin guessed her eyes were wide under the blindfold. He wondered why Batman hadn't taken it off. "You told me he knew! You told me he was in charge of all of this!"

"Batgirl, I'm sorry, it's just-"

"Robin, what you've done was extremely irresponsible, not to mention deceptive and disobedient-"

"Batman." This time Robin interrupted. He longed to call the man before him Bruce, but even if Barbara hadn't been in the room, he wasn't so sure he was even speaking to Bruce anymore. "I had to. I had to train her. You never would have allowed it so I had to. She wanted to and she has every right to it as I did." Past tense.

"No, you're wrong."

"How am I wrong?" Robin clenched his fists, attempting to stand taller. "Her mom died," Of course Batman knew who she was. "She knows what it's like. She just wanted to protect people, like us. How is it any different for her?" As much as Robin knew he should be surprised by his outburst, he found he wasn't. This had been brewing up inside for days.

"It was irresponsible of you to train her on your own. You were out, alone, with all that's been going on. You could have been easily picked off. And what about her? You were endangering Barbara as much as yourself."

"Easily picked off?" Robin was fuming, his fists shaking slightly as he struggled to control himself at least somewhat. "That's what you think of me as? I'm an easy target, alone? You don't think I can fend for myself? Well," He smirked slightly. "It's not really a question now, is it? I know you don't think I can take care of myself. I know you don't think highly of me. Don't think I haven't noticed you brushing me off, holding me back, keeping me at home. I thought I was supposed to be your partner; your equal.

"I tried to prove myself to you, at first." Now he spoke bitterly, his face twisted in a sneer. "I tried to impress you, make you see that, yes, I could take care of myself. I tried to be like you, so you'd trust me again. I constantly asked myself 'what would Batman do?' But it didn't do any good. It didn't change anything. You still ignored me, still brushed me off." Robin clenched his teeth, fighting back the wave of emotions that had been building up inside for so long.

"So I stopped trying." He spoke softly, looking down at the ground. "I decided it didn't matter what I did. I knew I wasn't you. I'm not you. But if that's the only thing that's good enough for you, then _I'm_ not."

"Robin-"

"I get it." He turned away, all intentions of running away, somewhere, anywhere, until Batgirl finally spoke.

"Dick Grayson?"

He turned, his previous anger momentarily forgotten and replaced by shock. Barbara stood behind him, the blindfold gone from her eyes and a coffee mug clutched in her hand, her face a mixture of disbelief and anger.

"You're Robin?"

"BG, what are you talking-"

She cut him off before he could try to play dumb. "Don't try to deny it. This," She held up the cup, shaking it slightly for emphasis. Robin peered through the darkness at it, trying to make out what was on the white background.

"Wally gave it to you for birthday. He said he made it himself. I was there, I remember."

Now he could see the image on the cup. A worm, or a grub as Wally claimed, wearing a cape and a mask with a big G on its front. The speedster had apparently painted it himself and that it was supposed to be some superhero called Grubs that he was a big fan of. Bruce must've been using the cup for coffee or something as Robin had, honestly, kind of forgotten about it, and left it out at the computer.

"Barbara, I'm sorry, I-"

"I've had enough apologies from you today, Grayson." Barbara ground out. "You've told me enough lies, I don't need to hear another."

"No, but Babs-"

"Save it. I can't believe you wouldn't tell me who you are. We've been best friends since you came here and for the past five months you've been running around in spandex with me and I never even knew. Why would you keep this from me? Didn't you trust me? Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't notice before now. I mean, how many short, black haired, annoying boys are there? I can't believe I didn't see the resemblance. I guess it's because you did such a good job of not acting like Dick Grayson. Or maybe it's the other way around. Who are you, really? Dick Grayson? Robin? Or someone else entirely? I thought I knew you. I obviously had no idea how wrong I was."

Her words hurt. Bad. They were like a crippling blow and Robin cold barely keep himself from collapsing under the pain of them. _'I thought I knew you'. Yeah, you're not the only one. _She was right, though. Who was he, really? Robin? Dick Grayson? Or someone else entirely…. Or maybe he was none of the above. He didn't know who he was. No one did.

oOo

Somehow he'd managed to get out of the cave, get on his bike, and get as far away from there as possible. He'd only stopped running when he'd nearly collapsed from exhaustion and crashed the bike. He turned off the engine and slowly climbed off, laying his helmet on the seat before setting the kickstand. He was still wearing his mask but had ripped off the cape and pulled a black sweatshirt over his shirt. Sure someone might recognize him, but at least he wasn't a flashing target.

He wandered slowly over to curb, sitting down on the edge as he shivered slightly. The air was much colder now, with Christmas just around the corner, and he'd been hoping for the past few weeks that it would snow. It didn't snow often in Gotham, Christmas usually ending up being cold and rainy, but when it did, it gave the gloomy city new life. Store fronts looked cheerier, streets looked cleaner, and people seemed happier. And heaven knew he could use some happiness. But today the sky was gray with rainclouds, the weather report predicting scattered showers over the next couple day.

He pulled the hood up over his dark hair, rubbing his ears to try to warm them up from the windy ride. Looking around, he realized he was in the narrows, near the old bar once owned the Falcones. It was surprisingly empty, not another soul in sight except for a rat digging through the gutter across the street. He honestly didn't know what he was doing here, but he knew he couldn't have stayed back at the manor. Batman was probably making Barbara swear to secrecy right, despite the fact that his protégé was out alone in Gotham. But hadn't he been previously trying to protect him?

The single street lamp over his head flickered and the boy looked up, watching as the yellow ball of light struggled to stay on. There were spider webs covering it and small bug carcasses someone trapped inside it. The was rusty and dented, with worn graffiti littering its sides along with torn old posters that had somehow managed to cling to the metal sides when all the others had been washed off. Looking closer the boy saw a phone number etched into the metal, red with the words 'I love you' above it in messy handwriting. He reached up and wiped a drop of water from his cheek, sniffling slightly in the cold air.

He looked away from the light, it having managed to remain on, and his gaze fell to the street in front of him. His nose wrinkled slightly at the sight of all the mold and mildew built up along with the thick layers of gum and trash. A feet away there was a gutter, clogged with layers and layers of old papers: legal documents, job reports, divorce contracts; as well as take-out cups, fast food wrappers and half-eaten food. The boy could see several fliers for missing people, one for a young boy, who looked to be around eleven or twelve, with scruffy red hair and fierce green eyes. Again he looked away.

A cat hissed across the street and he looked up to see a black tabby streak out of a side alley, tail puffed up. He couldn't help noticing that the markings on its face looked almost like a mask. The cat shot past him before disappearing into another alley, nothing left of it but the ripples it left in a small puddle it ran through. The boy looked up, wondering what had scared the cat, and shot to his feet at the sight of a pale, white face and purple suit peeking out of the alley across the street from him.

"Why so serious, Boy Wonderful?"

"Stay back." Robin hissed, crouching into a defensive position.

"Oh, don't get your panties in a bunch." The clown chided, stepping out into the light, holding up his hands to show he wasn't armed. "I'm not here to fight you. Or beat you up, being the more likely scenario."

"What do you want, Joker?" He was shaking slightly now, whether from cold or fear, he wasn't sure. Last time he'd faced the Joker alone, it hadn't gone so well.

"I just want to talk." The clown walked forward a few steps before stopping at the opposite curb. He looked down, staring at the edge of the grimy curb for a couple moments before lightly brushing it off with a gloved hand and sitting down. "There we go. Just a nice talk."

"If you think I'm going to talk to you, you're wrong." Despite the Joker's passive actions, Robin knew better than trust an insane murderer.

"I'm not usually wrong, so I think you will talk to me." Despite the possibility of his claim being perceived as a threat, he clown didn't make any threatening movements and Robin narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"You know I can get on my bike right now and be a mile away from you in less than a minute."

The Joker nodded, resting his arms on his knobby knees as he continued to stare across the street at the boy.

"But I don't think you will. I think you want to talk to me. I know you want to talk to me. You want to hear what Uncle J has to say."

"You're wrong. I don't care what you have to say." Robin tried to sound sure of himself but his words sounded hollow even to his own ears.

The Joker ignored him and started talking: "I've noticed you've been rather… down recently. You've been spending a good deal of time beating up poor lowlifes in the Arena. Not really your style, is it?"

"What I do is none of your business."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. See, what I'm seeing here is a boy, neglected by the man he saw as his savior, trying to find out who he really is. I like it." Joker smiled slightly, the red lips stretching upwards. "The little bird's finally realizing the big bad Bat isn't all he makes himself out to be. Don't bother denying it; I see it in your face. The way you look at him, the way you disobey his orders, do things in secret. You're changing; leaving the nest so to speak. A little early, maybe, but given the circumstances, I can see why."

Robin slowly shook his head, not wanting to believe what the psychopath was saying; not wanting to hear what he was going to say next.

"You see, little bird,_ I_ understand you. _I _know what you're going through. Rejection hurts, doesn't it? It really hurts. But that's why I'm here. I'm not going to reject you, because you're like me. You want to be your own person. Don't want to let the rules of society hold you down. Or the rules of the Bat."

"No, you're wrong!" He practically screamed it, his hands shaking as he balled them into fists. "I'm nothing like you! I never will be anything like you!" And before he knew what he was doing, he threw on his helmet and leaped on his bike, revving the engine before driving away as fast as he could.

He wasn't like the Joker. He knew that. He would never be anything that like crazy psychopath. He may not know who he was, but at least he knew who he wasn't.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **So, I hope you liked that! I'm basing my Joker heavily on the Dark Knight Joker, but not stating anything about him too explicitly cause this is YJ, so I'll leave him up to your personal preference. Poor Dick, he probably thinks everyone hates him!

Thank you so much for reading and please review cause that would be cool! 200th reviewer!

Alex out.


	19. Fallen

**A/N: **Hey all! Thanks so much for all the amazing reviews for the last chapter!

**SeeSea17: **Good woah?

**KaliAnn: **Hahaha, I loved it! Yes, transformed by being kidnapped. Sounds like a foolproof plan, lol.

**Brightpath2: **Awe, thanks! Congrats! I can't wait to start working on your story!

**Blue Torpedo: **Ah yes, I know what you mean. Thanks!

**XxNeonShadowsxX: **Thank you so much for the amazing review! You make me all tingly! And I'm super excited to write your story!

**mixxi: **Oh goody!

**MechaBunny: **Doesn't everyone? Thak you so much!

**black angel's wing: **Confusing? Good to know. I guess it's kinda supposed to be, cuz Rob's is confused. I really wanted to write Batman's thoughts too, but I just didn't think it would work with it. Oh harriet…

**soccernin19: **Thank you!

**Kelly1432: **Questions! Good ones too!

**READINGhearts17: **

**Darkninja457: **Too dark for darkninja. Haha, just kidding! And yes, a giant fan base is right.

**not-exactly-the-truth: **;) Wait and see!

**Paige Starnes: **Oh, thank you!

**Sparrow-DawnUNITE: **Thank you so much!

**Silence Dogood II: **Thank you so much! That means a lot! I was definitely trying for a different angle.

**Stormcloudalchemist: **Thanks!

**Remmy18: **Oh, good! Thanks!

**SevenSilences: **Thank you!

Okay guys! So, this chapter! It was really inspired by the Coldplay My Shadow as well as Name by the Goo Goo Dolls. I really think that song fits this chapter. And I also want to thank one of my bestest friends for helping me so much with this story! Seriously, if it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be this far! This is also one of the chapters she was really looking forward to, so I dedicate it to her! Enjoy!

* * *

><p><em>Drip, drip, drip<em>

Crinkles formed around the eye as it narrowed, yet again, as if perhaps peering harder would reveal something previously unseen among the lines of data. The screen of the computer illuminated the otherwise dim cave, casting a bluish glow over the lined face. The numbers, letters, and pictures on the screen were reflected in the dark blue eyes, each orb its own miniature screen. A calloused hand slowly scrolled down the page, the motion becoming almost second nature; like a machine.

Bruce absently reached for the mug next to the keyboard; the mug that had the worm painted on it against a white background. Dick's mug. He brought the rim up to his lips before quickly lowering it, eyes wide and hands frantic as he zoomed in on the section of DNA. An abnormality; finally. He pulled up the strand in question, eyes skimming over all the information on the screen, brain desperately taking it in like a starved prisoner. Whatever it was was vague, barely there, as though… hidden. Cloaked. The cloaking device! Whatever the madman had used to cloak the DNA was wearing off, just like he'd said.

Bruce's hands flew across the keyboard as the screen flashed through different screens, each one slowly bringing out the DNA characteristics. The particular strand of DNA was separate from the rest of Dick's and, upon closer inspection, bore little to no similarities to his at all. It seemed to have been paired up with one of Dick's own DNA strands, somehow disguised this whole time as either belonging to Dick's genetic makeup or utterly invisible. However it was done didn't matter, though. It was here now and finally, finally, Bruce might be able to have a handle on the situation.

As slowly information made itself known, Bruce's eyes grew wider and wider as the scope of it all became clear. The DNA was some kind of hybrid DNA; Kryptonian DNA with the Blockbuster formula somehow injected in it. For some reason it didn't seem to have influenced Dick's genetic makeup in any way and, as far as Bruce could tell, was somehow dormant in his body. Whoever the man behind this was, was a genius. It would explain why he needed Dick back, besides obviously wanting the results of his experiment: the process wasn't finished yet. Whoever this was wanted to make some sort of superhuman. Why or for what purpose was unclear, but Bruce could think of way too many reasons.

He pushed the button on the communicator next to the computer. "Alfred; I've found it."

There was an audible sigh of relief on the other end followed by the older man's voice: _"Thank goodness, sir. Finally we can this whole mess straightened out." _

"The DNA is some sort of Blockbuster enhanced Kryptonian DNA; that madman was telling the truth when he said it was cloaked. And that the cloaking was wearing off. If I can manage to isolate the inferior DNA we should be able to remove it. It will be difficult, but I don't think impossible."

"_That's wonderful news, sir. I'm sure Master Richard will be pleased to hear it." _

"You should tell him."

"_I think perhaps it would be better coming from you, sir, don't you think?" _

"Perhaps, but the sooner I can figure out a plan for isolating that DNA, the better." Bruce was already pulling up new windows, finger again flying across the keyboard, the conversation with Alfred already out of his mind.

"_Sir, if you don't mind me saying, I think it's time you opened your eyes and realized something." _

Bruce's fingers stopped, his eyes closing. "What, Alfred?"

"_Do you know where Master Dick is, sir? Do you know where he is?" _

"He's with the Team." Bruce had gotten Dick's message earlier that morning and had decided that, with the lack of kidnapping attempts in the past few weeks and the security the mountain provided, not to mention the cameras Bruce had monitoring the Team's headquarters (though he admitted he hadn't checked any of them yet; he'd been busy), he'd decided the boy would be safe enough there.

"_Is that what he told you, sir?" _

"He left a message this morning." His voice was questioning and his eyebrows drew together, slightly confused.

"_When is the last time you talked to Master Richard?"_

"I – Alfred, I…." He wasn't entirely sure.

"_That's what I thought. The last time was Wednesday, when you were yelling at him for coming home late from school. That was my fault, sir. I picked him up." _The butler's tone was sad, but Bruce could feel the accusation in it.

"Alright, I made a mistake."

"_Do you know what Master Richard does in his free time?"_

"Of course I do."

"_Evidence suggests otherwise, sir. The matter of Barbara Gordon and 'Batgirl' seemed to have escaped your notice until only recently. I beg your pardon, sir, but what else are unaware of?" _

"Alfred, what do you mean?"

"_I'll tell you, sir. You spend so much of your time and energy trying to keep Master Richard safe, a very admirable practice, to be sure, and yet you're utterly ignorant of whatever it is he spends his time doing. You lock him up, to keep him safe, and yet you ignore him completely, keeping him totally in the dark, and still expect to him to obey you." _

"I'm just trying to keep him safe."

"_I understand that, Master Bruce, and I'm sure, deep down, he does too, but he's only thirteen. He needs more than a dark figure protecting him; he needs more than Batman. He needs Bruce Wayne. And that's someone I personally haven't seen in a long time."_

"Right, okay, but I really should be getting back-"

"_No." _

Bruce was so startled by the outburst that he froze.

"_No. I will not sit by and watch my family get torn apart by itself. If you knew half of what Master Richard's been up to the past few months, you would not be sitting in that chair right now. Whatever DNA conundrum you're trying to solve would be the farthest thing from your mind. And that's how it should be. You've both made an awful lot of mistakes by each other in the past months and sooner or later, one of you is going to have to pay for them. I dearly hope the price isn't too high."_ Alfred's voice cracked slightly at the end and Bruce wasn't sure if it was the speakers or not.

"_You've both gone through an awful lot recently, Master Richard especially. I know from experience that it's Batman who's the face in hard times, but not everybody needs Batman to save them. Some of them were saved by Bruce Wayne and that's the face they need to see when their world is crashing down around them. I hope you realize that, Master Batman." _

The line ended and Bruce sat back in his chair, computer forgotten as Alfred's words rang in his head. He knew he'd made mistakes, but he was just doing what was best for Dick… right? After what Alfred had said, he wasn't so sure. His thoughts were interrupted by a call on the screen.

"Who is this?" Batman growled. The reply made his heart stop.

"_Batman, it's Commissioner Gordon. I just received an anonymous tip that a man in a red helmet was seen kidnapping Robin. I'm sending you the approximate coordinates they gave me." _

"Coordinates received." Bruce took a deep breath, trying to dispel the fear coursing through his body. "I'm on my way."

oOo

Robin coughed lightly, rubbing under his mask with the back of his hand as he waved to the applauding audience. The circus tent seemed even more expansive than the last time he'd been in it and the trapeze seemed taller, the ever threatening ground seemingly miles away. Red Arrow, Artemis, and Superboy looked like tiny ants, or perhaps fleas, considering they were in a circus. The acrobat took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart and not let his fear and exhaustion show.

"_Robin, are you alright?" _But of course, he couldn't keep it from being felt.

"_Fine, Miss M. I think I just caught that twenty-four hour bug that's going around." _Maybe it was true. He'd had a cold before the start of the mission and it was only getting worse.

Miss Martian leaped off the platform, the music picking up as they neared the finale. The Martian flew gracefully through the air, her body twisting and turning as she performed feats of acrobat genius. The crowd loved it, their cheers getting louder as Miss Martian's routine progressed to seemingly impossible levels. As the red-haired girl linked her knees over the bar, Robin prepared himself, wiping the sweat from his face once again and trying not to think about the last time he'd been on this trapeze. Everything here was a painful memory, but he'd built up a strong pain tolerance over the years and he knew he could handle. He desperately hoped he could handle it.

Miss Martian's hands were outstretched, her face alight with a smile as she waited for her teammate to jump. Robin steeled himself, pushing away everything else but the mission and jumped, flipping once in the air before extending and reaching for the Martian's hands – only to miss.

Everything turned to slow motion as Robin saw his fingers barely graze against Miss Martian's before gravity got a hold of him and he was falling, falling, falling so fast and yet so slow. He twisted around, his arms reaching up towards the trapeze, his teammate's cries of alarm ringing through his head as his body rushed to meet the ground. The music seemed to fade, slowing, and the cheers of the crowd became like a distant roar of the ocean. Robin wondered if this was how his parents had felt, as they fell, knowing their life would end in a matter of seconds. As utterly terrifying as it was, it was almost peaceful, as if falling into a soft embrace. The world fading away as light encompassed the body, fading all else to nothing. Maybe dying wouldn't be too bad. Hopefully it would fast, painless, his neck breaking and then nothing. But wait….

"_Don't blow our cover!" _Robin shouted through the mind link, feeling Miss Martian's idea surface in his mind. It was then replaced by Superboy's and Robin wasted no time in twisting around so he was falling feet first, giving the clone the okay. The acrobat's feet connected with the solid wood of the barrel and next thing he knew, he was sailing upwards towards Miss Martian's hands again. Calculating that he'd be a few feet short, Robin pushed off the barrel, stretching his hand as far as he could. Inches away he felt gravity take him before a force pulled his hand upwards and Miss Martian's hands closed around his own.

They landed back on the platform and Robin shuddered, his hand shaking as he waved to the crowd, his knees threatening to give out. He could feel his teammate's concern for him, but ignored it, trying to blink away the sweat in his eyes. He felt Miss Martian's power on him the whole way down from the trapeze, but he was grateful for it, not trusting his legs and arms to hold up his body. Once they were on the ground, he allowed the older girl to help him back stage after nearly collapsing into Artemis's arms.

He nearly collapsed again when Haly walked over, his face alight with the same smile he used to wear after one of the Flying Grayson's performances. The old man hadn't changed much, in four years, but Robin hadn't really expected him too. He had a few more lines on his face than last time the boy had seen him, his eyes a bit dimmer than before, a few cracks in his armor, perhaps, but still the same man through and through. Robin coughed, straightening up and trying not to let the joy and recognition cross his face as Haly spread his arms wide, his smile just as wide.

"The Daring Dangers!" He exclaimed, looking like he wanted to embrace them all. "Who would've thought such a ragtag group of kids could've produced the best act this circus has seen in years?"

"We're not all kids." Roy grumbled, tugging slightly at his vest. He hadn't been very enthusiastic about the costumes – well, no one had, really, except M'gann.

"That was brilliant!" Haly continued, ignoring Roy. "What's a fella gotta do to get you guys to stick around?"

Robin forced a smile. "Don't worry, Mr. Haly, we'll stick around for a little while." _Until we find the person behind the raids. _

The ringleader laughed, reaching out and shaking Robin's hand vigorously. "That's what I like to hear! I figure I'll see you around later tonight. We're having a potluck outside the clown's tent, bring whatever you'd like." And the man was gone, bustling away to chat with other performers and get ready for the next act.

"He seems nice." M'gann commented as they exited the main tent and started to make their way back to their own train car.

"I dunno," Conner's eyes narrowed, staring in the direction the older man had gone. "He's really… friendly."

"Yeah, Con, a lot of people are." Artemis brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"But he seemed _too _friendly."

"Jack Haly's just like that." Robin answered before he could stop himself.

"You know him?" Roy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, I'm just good at reading people." He hoped the cover-up didn't sound too rushed.

Apparently it didn't, as the archer only rolled his eyes.

"Ouch!" Artemis growled, hopping on one foot, her face screwed up into a grimace. "Stupid stake."

Robin stifled a laugh, watching as she proceeded to kick the stake, succeeding in uprooting it and sending the corner of the tent collapsing in on itself.

"Smooth, Artemis." Roy grumbled.

Artemis glared at him but said nothing and the trip back to the train car was otherwise silent, apart from Robin's occasional coughs. No one mentioned anything to him, but he could see Artemis sending him worried glances every now and then until she finally pulled him aside before he could enter the main compartment.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, fine." He coughed again, obviously not proving his point.

"You seem distracted." She tried, crossing her arms over her red and white uniform.

"You of all people should be expecting it by now."

"More so than usual."

"You may know my secret identity, but you obviously don't know my backstory."

"Then tell me."

"No."

"Fine."

Later he felt bad about it, but at that moment, he was glad when she huffed in annoyance and stalked off.

oOo

If it hadn't been apparent to Artemis before, it was now; the Team was obviously very inclined to dramatics. As the archer stood, bow drawn, she smirked slightly to herself, the rest of the Team's ominous poses visible out of the corner of her eye. They'd managed to corner a guy, shifty and all that, in a warehouse where he was obviously trying to steal something out of one of the crates. Artemis watched as he slowly lifted up whatever was in his hands as Robin laughed:

"Caught red-handed. Red-faced too, I'd imagine."

Artemis started to roll her eyes before narrowing them suddenly. What was that guy doing –

_Boom!_

The man shot whatever he was holding and next thing Artemis knew, she was falling, crashing through support beams as the warehouse blew up around her. She was dimly aware of a smaller, red body falling along beside her, but before her brain could register anything, she hit the ground, landing roughly on her right shoulder. The archer groaned, rolling over as she coughed on dust – no, smoke! The building was burning! And still standing, apparently, as nothing was falling on her but small debris, but it didn't look like that would last long.

She rolled to her feet, hands running along her bow feeling for cracks. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Red Arrow doing the same. Satisfied that her bow was okay, she assessed her own body, pleased to find that everything seemed in one piece, though her hair was a mess and her shoulder would be killer tomorrow. Nothing she couldn't handle, of course, but the small part of her that was cared (small, small part, mind you) was fretting over the knots and singed and split ends she'd have to deal with.

Artemis's eyes fell to the rest of her teammates, mentally accounting for them all. Superboy was already up and looking ready to charge off while Robin slowly rose from the ground, Miss Martian's semi-conscious form draped over his small body. Just as Superboy looked ready to book it out of there, the acrobat's weak voice called to him:

"Superboy, wait! You need to help M'gann." He looked about ready to collapse himself and Artemis was ready to throttle the clone if he didn't take his girlfriend.

He growled, but complied, lifting the Martian off of Robin before leaping out of the burning warehouse. Something they all needed to do (except the leap part).

"C'mon guys, let's go." Robin coughed into his glove before taking a step forward, in the direction the thief had taken, before gasping and collapsing to the ground.

Artemis was at his side in an instant, throwing his arm over her shoulder before rising, taking his limp body with him. He coughed again, the smoke obviously not helping his cold, and Artemis winced as she remembered his admittance to Miss Martian of feeling 'lousy'.

"You're a higher priority, Wonder Boy." She told him, adjusting his arm over his shoulder. She took a step forward, only to find Arrow's arm in her way. Sometimes she hated that archer. Okay, most of the time.

"Put him on my back." He muttered, crouching down in front of her. Artemis raised an eyebrow but didn't argue, guiding Robin's body onto the older boy – man's – back. Roy stood, gripping the acrobat around his legs. Artemis peered at the boy's face and found that his eyes were closed behind his mask.

"He's out." She told the other archer, coughing once before leading the way towards a hole in the wall of the building ahead.

"Figured," Roy grunted, ducking under a collapsed beam and nearly singing his hair. "He'd never let me do this if he was conscious."

Artemis decided not to question and instead just led the way out of the building, marveling at the odd relationships her friend seemed to have.

oOo

Once they'd returned to the train car, Roy had deposited Robin back in his room, stripping him of his outfit (or so Artemis hoped, she hadn't actually been there) before putting him in his bed (hopefully after redressing him) and heading off to his own compartment. Artemis had gone back to the compartment she shared with M'gann and changed back into her performing outfit (they had packed light) but after lying in bed, tossing and turning for an immeasurable amount of time, she finally got up, threw on a jacket, and headed back out into the cold.

She let her feet carry her, not really aware of where she was going and frankly not really caring. She had no idea why she couldn't sleep; it definitely wasn't out of the ordinary – being a nighttime vigilante can really mess with your internal clock, but she felt tired. At least, her body did. Looking up, she found herself back in front of the Superboy and Robin's car; it seemed fate was continually shouting in her face about the boy. Who didn't seem to be able to sleep either.

Peering in a window, Artemis could see the outline of the small figure moving about the small train car. At first it looked like he was performing some sort of dance, but on closer inspection Artemis figured he was probably pulling on a coat. She continued to watch at the boy stood, framed in the doorway, before he turned and left, shutting the sliding door behind him.

The archer followed his progress along through the windows along the corridor, though he was so short she could only barely see the top of his head. The soon reached one of the heavy doors leading in and out of the train and Artemis quickly ducked out of sight behind a conveniently placed crate - though afterwards she questioned why she'd felt the need to hide in the first place. Old habits die hard, it seemed.

The acrobat slid open the door with slight difficulty before dropping to the snow covered ground outside, dressed in his circus outfit and a black jacket. Once there was a safe distance between them, Artemis unfolded herself and followed, arguing that she had nothing better to do and that he was sick: you never know when he might suddenly drop to the ground and start convulsing. If she didn't follow him, he might not be found until morning and by then it would be too late. Over dramatics solved all problems of conscience.

Robin wandered slowly through the maze of tents, skillfully avoiding all the stakes and animal droppings. It was obvious he was accustomed to such things and Artemis smirked slightly, proud of her recent detectives skills. She'd spent the evening nosing around the camp, poking her face where it didn't belong and such, until she's turned up information on the Flying Grayson's, Dick's old circus act. She'd been a little miffed to find that the story of the Flying Grayson's was pretty well known around the circus (there were still posters everywhere) and Gotham for that matter (figures she'd either forgotten or not heard) and that her detective work wasn't really all that impressive. She tried to ignore it, though, and be proud of herself, for once.

Artemis began to start worrying about finding her way back through all the tents, when Robin finally stopped in front of… a train? Hadn't they just left the train? Upon closer inspection, Artemis found that this train was smaller than the other, older, and covered in poster upon poster. It was on a track parallel to the main one and Artemis figured they must've split at some point, explaining why the main train was across the camp from this one. She hung back a good distance, keeping to the shadows of a bright blue tent as she watched the acrobat in front of her.

His head was downcast; the collar of his jacket pulled up around his neck and Artemis only hoped he wouldn't get sicker than he was. He came to a stop in front of a poster of the Flying Grayson's, this one much more elaborate than the others the archer had seen previously. She watched as he looked at the picture of his family and could almost imagine his blue eyes filled with the sadness she'd been seeing far too often in them. He stood there for a moment before he suddenly started talking. At first Artemis thought he was talking to the picture (or his parents, whichever) and made to leave, until she realized he'd moved his finger to answer his comm.

"-Old Jack could lose the circus."

Who was he talking to? Batman?

"That's exactly why I didn't bring you along: I didn't want my best pal questioning my objectivity."

So it was Wally. Artemis had to suppress a snort; of course it was the speedster.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine…. Yeah, she knows…. No, she found out…. You're just jealous…. Whatever…. Yeah, and Wally? Thanks, f-for calling…. I gotta go, she's behind me…."

It took Artemis a minute to figure out he was talking about her.

"Hey, Assassin Girl. You know stalking is considered a crime."

Artemis allowed a small smile to grace her lips. "Arrest me, Wonder Boy."

"Will do. Right after we arrest the thief."

She took it as an invitation, whether it really was or not, and crossed the tracks until she was standing next to the smaller boy. Upon closer inspection she could see perspiration under the black bangs and around the edges of the circus mask. At least, she wouldn't say it was anything else. His shoulders were shaking slightly - she was kind and attributed it to the cold - and his face was pale and drawn.

"You really shouldn't be out." She told him, shoving her hands in the pockets of her jacket.

He only shrugged, sniffling slightly before coughing into his sleeve. "The night's not that bad."

"But you're sick."

He didn't reply, only continued to stare at the poster on the train car and Artemis began to feel as if she was interrupting something.

"Sorry I snapped at you earlier."

Artemis turned to the boy in surprise, her eyes widening slightly as she ran the words over in her head, making sure she'd heard him correctly. She hadn't heard Robin apologize to her, or anyone for that matter, that sincerely in the past two months.

"And the angel child returns."

"Artemis, I'm sorry." He lowered his head, hair falling gently over his eyes. "I've been a jerk, I know."

"You can say that again." Why was she so mean? She mentally berated herself. But he didn't reply with his usual snarkiness and instead continued to stare at the ground, his hands shoved in his pockets. She could see his wrists and the scarring wrapping around the thin appendages, making it look as though his hands were bound, even when they weren't.

"Jack Haly's innocent." He finally said, still not looking up. "I know the others don't think so, but I know him. He'd never do this."

"I believe you." Artemis was surprised by her own statement. She'd had her money on the old ringmaster since the beginning. Maybe because she hadn't known Robin's connection to him.

"Thanks. I know I don't deserve your trust."

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Alright, Wonder Boy, what's up? Your conscience suddenly come in and knock you upside the head?"

The boy shrugged and Artemis felt more lost than ever. "Being here…. I guess it's made me realize stuff." He paused for a moment and Artemis thought he was going silent again when he continued. "I can't believe how blind I was. I thought – I thought everything Batman was doing, he was doing because he didn't trust me, didn't want me around. I thought – it felt like the whole world was against me. I'm sorry I was a jerk to you. You didn't deserve that. I guess I just… desperately wanted someone to blame, someone to take my anger out on, and since the real villains were – are – unknown, I turned to everyone else."

Artemis was surprised at the maturity coming from the boy, barely fourteen. Without meaning to, she stretched out her hand and rested it on his shoulder, causing him to turn his head upwards to look at her.

"It's okay." She smiled slightly. "I forgive you. Just this once." She added with a wink.

The corners of his mouth twitched in what the archer assumed was a smile before his face again took on its gloomy overcast.

"Barbara found out." His voice sounded like it belonged at the depths of despair. "She's furious. She hates me."

"I'm sure she doesn't hate you." Artemis honestly wouldn't blame her if she did, but still, you had to give the kid a break.

"She does though."

Artemis sighed, eyes flicking around as if trying to find advice written in the snow.

"Listen, Robin," She crossed her arms subconsciously. "I'm not very good at this whole 'don't worry, it'll be okay thing', but you are and that's the reason why I'm not still running around with my dad." That wasn't exactly what she was getting at. "Okay, what I'm trying to say is that you're a good person. Yeah, you've done some bad things in the past couple months, but we all make mistakes. _I _was an assassin since practically birth. But you changed me." She took a breath before continuing. "You, for some incredibly crazy and stupid reason, took time to talk to a wild girl who was trying to kill you…. You – you changed me."

"Thanks, Artemis."

"Thank you, too, Grayson."

He finally looked up and smiled at her, a real, genuine smile. Artemis smiled back, as best she could manage without making the whole situation too sappy.

"You good?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

They were silent for a couple minutes, each lost in thought until Artemis finally said: "We should head back. It's starting to snow."

"'Kay. I'll meet you there."

The archer smirked and ruffled his hair before turning and slowly making her way back across the tracks. Once out of sight, she turned and watched as the small figure collapsed, falling to his knees in front of the poster of his parents. As much as she wished she could be of more help, she knew she was no good at that sort of thing so, with one last look, she turned and left the boy, hoping that, at least, he was better off than he was before. She convinced herself that he was. She couldn't be completely useless at this sort of thing.

oOo

Once Artemis had left, Dick knew what he had to do. Once they solved the case, he was going home. He had to apologize to Bruce, and Alfred, and… everybody. He felt his knees hit the ground as tears slipped from under his mask, rolling softly down his cheeks. He'd failed. He'd tried so hard – _so hard_ to be like Batman, and then so hard not to be…. He'd lost himself somewhere along the way, becoming everything he'd fought so hard_ not_ to become.

"I'm sorry," He whispered, fists clenching as more tears leaked out. "I'm so, so sorry."

Being back at the circus had somehow awakened Dick to how far he'd really fallen. Falling. He'd always been terrified of it, so afraid of perishing in the same way his parents had four years ago, and here he was, at the bottom of it all, having fallen so far from where he used to be.

"I've really screwed up, huh?" Dick muttered, wrapping his arms around himself and staring up at the poster. "I just thought…. I don't know what I thought. I was just – _am_ just – so sick of it all. I'm sorry." Dick buried his face in his arms, the cold nip of December barely registering as he cried. All the emotions so long held back burst forth in a great torrent, crashing down and bringing the boy down with them.

The snow fell softly, landing on the dark hair as the night grew older, oblivious to the pain the acrobat felt. He cried; soft sobs, barely audible to anyone except perhaps the poster above him; the picture of the acrobats flying far above the world the only witness to the child's anguish. He'd fallen, fallen so far and had finally hit the bottom. Looking back up, he realized how far the fall really had been. But it was over now. He'd hit the bottom and he was still alive.

oOo

As he looked up at Jack Haly, he had to hide his surprise at being found out. He'd done such a good of covering, it he thought.

"How – how did you know?" He stuttered, too stunned to try to deny it.

"Dick, you've grown." The put his hand on the boy's shoulder. "But some things never change. Like the sight of a Grayson on the trapeze. You can't fake that – can't hide it."

He was still alive. _"Some things never change…." _

He may have lost himself, or maybe he was only waiting to be found again.

oOo

"_I've called Gordon. The Bat should be on his way." _

"_Good, Hood, very good. I knew I could trust you." _

"_Cut it." _

"_Hmph, fine. What did you tell him?" _

"_That a man wearing a red helmet was seen kidnapping Robin." _

"_Brilliant. Once the Bat arrives, engage him; keep him occupied until we can lure out the prize. You know the drill." _

"_Copy that." _

"_I really should have sent you out to begin with. Oh well, it's far more satisfying this way."_

"_Whatever you say." _

"_Do whatever you have to get the boy without killing him. I've given you enough manpower to take down the Pentagon, so you better not fail me." _

"_Don't worry, I won't." _

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Such ominousness! (That is, surprisingly, a word!) Thank you so much for reading! Please review, tell me your thoughts, predictions, such and such! What could the ending mean? Until next time!

Alex out.


	20. Behind the Mask

**A/N: **Hey guys! You all ready for another chapter?

A huuuuge thanks to all who reviewed, followed and favorited!

**Brightpath2: **Thanks! You are awesome too.

**XxNeonShadowsxX: **Wow, thank you so much! Alfred is amazing. I would dearly like to meet him. I'm glad you got the significance of what Haly said! When I heard that part in the episode I was like, 'they totally added that just for my story'. Haha, okay, maybe not, but that's still my theory. Seriously, it could not have fit any better.

**KaliAnn: **That would be intense, wouldn't it?

**READINGhearts17: **All's well that ends well, eh?

**not-exactly-the-truth: **What is going on indeed?

**soccernin19: **Thank you!

**Darkninja457: **Well, I guess you'll find out. Thank you1

**MechaBunny: **I will surely try! Thank you!

**Kelly1432: **Thank you so much! I sure hope it is!

**robgray1: **Yes, but this is my take on her story.

Alrighty! Hold on to your hats, folks, and your socks! Chapter 20!

* * *

><p>Once Dick got back to the cave he took the zeta beam to Gotham, the prospect of going home, for once, not seeming so terribly unbearable. He managed to sneak back into the house undetected, shedding his uniform in his bedroom as he wasn't quite ready to confront Bruce. He'd already decided that he would go to Alfred first, knowing the old man would still be awake as long as he knew that Dick was away.<p>

Dick pulled on a pair of jeans, wondering for the first time in a long time if they'd been washed recently. He then took a moment to examine the bruising on his chest from being smacked out of midair by Parasite and falling through a burning building. It was extensive, to say the least, but nothing he couldn't handle; if it started to hurt later, he would let Alfred look at it. He gently pulled a t-shirt on, followed by a hoodie and ran a hand through his hair, crinkling his nose as it stood on end. He definitely needed a shower.

Finally Dick sighed, exiting the bathroom and throwing a quick glance at the clock, 3:32 am, before steeling himself and pushing open his bedroom door. Once in the hallway he chanced a glance into Bruce's room, not very surprised to find it empty; Batman was probably working late again. The acrobat slowly made his way towards the stairs, the same feeling of failure and shame he'd felt back at the circus returning with a renewed vengeance. But it was too late to turn back. He knew he had to face this eventually, and Alfred was a good place to start.

"Hey, Alfred," Dick called softly, padding nimbly down the staircase, eyes searching the gloom for the telltale glow from an occupied room.

"Master Richard!" The old butler's face appeared, illuminated by a candle he was holding.

Dick smiled at the sight of the man, his eyes suddenly beginning to feel hot as he began to finally realize all he'd put Alfred through the past few months.

"Candles are a little old fashioned, don't you think?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood slightly.

"Oh, Master Dick, I'm so glad you're back." The lines on the old face wrinkled in pure joy and Dick couldn't help it anymore. Rushing forward, he threw himself into Alfred's arms, tears beginning to stream down his face once more.

"Alfred," He sobbed, gripping the fabric of the man's suit in his fingers, breathing deeply in the smell of peppermint and pine, letting it wash over him and comfort him.

Alfred stood, stoically as ever, gently running a hand through the boy's hair, as the other rested against his back, careful to keep the candle from burning the dark locks.

"Alfred, I'm so sorry," Dick choked, his face buried in the butler's chest as his tears soaked the white shirt.

"Master Dick." The voice was filled with joy and relief, only causing Dick to tremble harder as the gravity of the situation hit him – again, and again and again.

"A-Alfred, I've m-messed up s-so bad."

"Shh, it's okay." Alfred gently led the boy over the stairs, sitting him down as he continued to cry into the butler's chest.

"I-I don't know what got into me." Dick sniffled. "I-I just…. Alfred, wh-what have I done? B-Bruce, you, everyone must hate me! I-I'm s-so sorry!"

Alfred continued to run his hand over the boy's hair, his eyebrows stitched together in agony at pain and sorrow his youngest boy was feeling. After a few moments he finally spoke again:

"Why do we fall, Master Richard?"

"Wh-what?" Dick choked, looking up with a tear-stained face.

"Why do we fall?"

Dick sniffled, reaching up to wipe the tears on his face with his sleeve. "S-so we can learn to p-pick ourselves back up…."

"So we can learn to pick ourselves back up." Alfred rested a hand on the boy's small back, crinkles forming at the edges of his eyes. "I'm proud of you, Master Dick. Yes, I am still disappointed in what you've done, but not in you yourself. I'm still as proud of you as ever. More so, after seeing you make it through this."

"Th-thanks, Alfred." Dick sniffled again, running a finger under his eye before drawing his sleeves over his hands, suddenly chilly. "Hey, where's Bruce?"

A shadow suddenly fell over Alfred's face, his voice grim. "I'm afraid that Master Bruce is out 'rescuing' you from your 'kidnappers'."

"What?" Dick sat upright, eyes wide and tears forgotten.

"Earlier tonight, or should I say earlier this morning, seeing as it appears to be morning, Batman received a call from Commissioner Gordon involving an anonymous tip that a man in a red helmet was seen attempting to subdue you, apparently in hopes of kidnapping you. He left nearly three hours ago." Alfred's face was etched with worry.

"No!"

"_Miss Martian to Robin!" _

For a second, Dick froze before hastily put his finger to his ear, remembering he hadn't taken his com unit out.

"Miss M, what is it?"

"_The mountain received a call from an unidentified caller. He broke through the security and left a message." _The voice sounded panicked.

"What did it say?" Dick glanced at Alfred, who was watching him closely.

"_It – it said that he, whoever left the message, had Batman and that if Robin didn't come within the hour, he would sh-shoot him. Batman, I mean. And he said that Robin had to come alone, otherwise he would shoot anyway. I'm sending you the coordinates we received." _

Dick's eyes widened as he turned to face Alfred, fear growing in the pit of his stomach.

"They have Batman." He whispered, as though afraid anything louder would somehow bring on the bullet. "He-he says he's gonna shoot him if I don't go."

Alfred's face grew pale, though he remained as composed as always as he put a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Alfred, I _have_ to go!"

"Now, Master Richard-"

"I don't have a choice!" Dick shrugged off the butler's hand, standing up as he switched back to Miss Martian's com channel.

"Thanks Miss M. Now get some sleep, I'll handle this."

"Master Richar-"

"_Do you want me to call the Team? I know he said you have to come alone, but maybe we could hide a couple blocks away or something, you'll need backu-" _

"There's no time." Dick was already heading towards the entrance to the Batcave, there being absolutely no question in his mind of what he was going to do.

"Master Richard!" Alfred's sharp voice cut through his focus. "I implore you to use your common sense and think this through before rushing off and getting yourself killed."

_Or worse, _Dick thought. But he kept that thought to himself, instead saying:

"Alfred, he said I have to be there within the hour. I have to go now."

Alfred looked like he wanted to argue with him, to plead with him to stay, to not go, but Dick knew that Alfred knew this was the only way.

"Very well," He finally consented. "We will talk as you get dressed."

oOo

Robin hunched over the handlebars of his bike, shivering as the cold December air nipped at the bare skin on his arms. He was less than ten minutes away from the coordinates with only fifteen minutes left until his time ran out. The bare beginnings of a plan that he had formed with Alfred were at the forefront of his mind and he desperately hoped that Batman would be conscious when he got there. The butler had finally convinced him to call Artemis, she being the closest and all, as well as the rest of the Team, telling them to get there as soon as they could rally everybody together. Alfred, meanwhile, said he would attempt to contact Superman, though he was on a League mission, so his appearance wasn't to be counted on.

Sniffling slightly from the residue of his cold, Robin glanced down at the coordinates displayed on the screen on his bike, reassuring himself that he was heading in the right direction. Quite honestly, he was terrified, knowing that any man who claimed to have the Dark Knight in position to be used as blackmail was a force to be reckoned with and not to be taken lightly. Not to mention this man was out to get Robin and give him to a crazy 'scientist' who had been deprived of Robin for a dangerous period of time. Also, that he, Robin, was pathetically unprepared and quite possible pathetically outnumbered as he had no idea how many thugs this guy had working for him. So maybe terrified wasn't a strong enough word.

"_Robin." _

It was Artemis.

"What?"

"_ETA twelve minutes." _

"Kay. Once you get there, stay back, don't show yourself. He wants me and me only."

"_Full of it much?" _Artemis joked, though without her usual enthusiasm.

Robin just smiled a little before switching off his comm. and gunning the engine. He got to the area in six minutes, thirty-six seconds. He parked his bike a block away from the exact coordinates, in the eave of an old paint factory building, setting the security system on high. He was now in the narrows, on the very cusp, near the docks. Not a friendly place, though typically quiet, ideal for a hostage situation.

Robin removed his helmet, checking over his equipment quickly before setting off towards the meeting place. The side street he was on was dark, a lone, flickering streetlamp a block away the light until one reached the docks. He crept quietly along next to the paint building, careful not to upset any creatures that might alert the enemy of his presence. Not that it mattered. Just as he rounded the corner of the building, a slightly muffled, hollow voice spoke:

"You can't hide form me, Boy Wonder."

Robin's head shot up to the source of the voice, his body falling into a defensive stance. The speaker was a man, crouched in front of a building opposite the old paint factory. From the sound of his voice and the look of his body, Robin estimated him to be in his early twenties. He was dressed in a dark brown leather jacket and over his face he wore a red helmet-like face mask, complete with glowing slits for eyes. If Robin could've seen his mouth, he betted he would be smirking.

But then Robin's eyes fell from him down the dark shadow in front of him. Batman was kneeling, his head bowed, at the man's feet, while the mouth of a gun pressed into the side of his head. Robin couldn't tell whether the Bat was unconscious or not, with the position of his head, but didn't think the Dark Knight was fully awake, either way.

Seeing Batman so vulnerable was what finally thrust Robin over the edge. He began to shake slightly, fear starting to cloud his senses. Was this how Batman felt, every time he saw Robin at the hands of a villain? So weak, so vulnerable, so utterly helpless?

_No! _He told himself. He had to remain calm. If he didn't, if he lost his head, so would Batman. He had to be strong, for both of them.

"Who are you?" Robin demanded, in the strongest voice he could muster. He knew he had to stall for time until Artemis got there. He knew there was no way he could get Batman out of the harm's way without a distraction, and he couldn't be in two places at once, contrary to popular belief. And besides, he had no idea how many thugs were hiding in the shadows, just waiting for a signal.

"My name doesn't matter, kid. You've probably never heard of me anyway." The voice was mocking, almost, arrogant and haughty, with a touch of humor about it. Like the man was just about to laugh, but instead turned it into a sneer.

"I don't recognize you, that's for sure." Robin edged forward slightly, beginning so slowly move around in a perimeter, his eyes flicking between the man and his mentor. "I think I would've remembered a cheap knock-off of Sportsmaster in red." He knew he was treading dangerous ground, but it was the only way to get his emotions in check. At least somewhat.

"If only you knew, Birdie." The man laughed a low laugh, short, and sinister. "But let's cut the crap. Drop your weapons, come quietly, and Batsy gets to continue his mission of creating psychotic criminal masterminds."

"_Robin, I'm here. Awaiting your signal." _

"Fine." Robin lifted his hands in the air to show he had no weapons as he began walking towards the man. His heart began beating faster the closer he got and he could only hope that it wouldn't give him away. As walked he discreetly moved his finger to his ear, pressing the alarm button on his comm. and hoping that Artemis would understand.

He was less than eight feet away when something whistled past Robin's ear before hitting the ground, immediately releasing a cloud of smoke. As the arrow hit, Robin was already in the air, foot aimed at the hand that held the gun to Batman's head. He felt it connect, but instead of the typical clatter of a gun landing on the concrete, Robin felt a hand catch his ankle before he was suddenly airborne, sailing through the air away from the enemy.

He twisted in midair, managing to land on his feet as the man spoke again.

"Oh good, I was beginning to think this would be too easy."

"Yah!" Artemis's boot nailed the man in the face, or helmet, sending him reeling back slightly.

"_Tsk tsk_, don't play by the rules, do we?"

Robin growled, drawing out two exploding disks. A quick glance revealed that Batman had been somehow pushed out of the way and now lay on his side, eyes closed behind the cowl. Robin threw the disks, running forward and vaulting over the man, rolling to a stop beside his mentor as Artemis engaged.

The acrobat carefully rolled the Dark Knight on his back, bending over and listening for breath, a heartbeat, anything. He was relieved to hear both. Gently patting his cheek, Robin whispered urgently:

"Batman, Batman, wake up."

"Ungh."

Robin sighed in relief as the lenses of the cowl opened and Batman pushed himself up, a gloved hand quickly going to his head.

"Robin…?"

"Batman, it's me." Robin stared down worriedly at his mentor.

"The Hood, he drugged me." The Dark Knight growled, fists clenching. "He knew the weak points of my armor."

"But that's impossi-"

"That doesn't matter right now." Batman was on his feet in an instant, fists still clenched in an offensive position. "We have to take down that man before backup arrives."

Robin nodded, rising as well, hands full of disks.

"And we will talk about your behavior when this is over."

They exchanged a look and Robin knew that in that one look, everything was settled between them, for now. In that one look, their own faults were acknowledged and acceptance was given in return. In that one look, Robin knew that everything would be alright between him and Bruce, eventually.

"Oh, this is getting fun." The man in the red helmet had his arms crossed, Artemis slowly picking herself up a couple feet away. "And as much as I would love to have the personal pleasure of taking down all of you myself, I think it's time to even the playing field." He fired a shot into the air and before Robin knew it, they were surrounded by thugs, all armed with crowbars and guns.

"We need the boy alive," The man shouted, his voice beginning to fill with glee. "But the others, heh heh, fire at will."

And then they were in the fight of their lives.

Things were a blur as suddenly Robin was fighting twenty thousand guys at once. Instinct quickly took over as his body went into overdrive, leaping, twisting, kicking, punching, and, hopefully, surviving. Robin ducked a kick to the head, spinning halfway down and coming up, escrima stick aimed for another thugs face. Before the hit even landed, his right leg shot out to the side, nailing another one in the sweet spot, sending him down senseless.

Kicking off his right leg, Robin launched himself into a spinning kick, landing him in between two thugs who quickly received matching fists to the face. Dropping to the ground, Robin threw himself to the side as a gunshot went off, coming up behind a thug aiming at Batman. Bringing his hands together, he thrust his escrima sticks down at the back of the man's head. Without waiting for a result, he spun around engaging another enemy.

Glancing to his left he saw Artemis fighting three at a time, her bow being used as a staff and her heavy combat boots landing many a hit. He internally winced, know what those boots were capable of. Batman was off to his right, a dark shadow moving among the thugs, taking another down before the first hit the ground. It seemed as if they should be winning, but the thugs didn't seem to stay down. One would take a direct hit to the head with a Bat-fist and would get up a few seconds later, dizzy, but otherwise seemingly unharmed.

"Bats," Robin ground out, moving so he was fighting back-to-back with his mentor. "I think these guys are on something. No way this is natural."

Batman only grunted in response, his fist busy sinking into an abdomen.

"Where'd helmet guy go, anyway?" Robin asked, springing off Batman's back into a thugs face.

"Watching."

Robin found that odd, as it had appeared he had been the one behind taking down the Bat, seeing as the current thugs, while not staying down, weren't posing an incredible challenge to the Dark Knight.

Robin sprang into the air, vaulting off a thug's shoulders before twisting and kicking him and another in the face. He landed and continued in momentum into a roll, coming up under a gunman. Rolling backwards, he sprung off his hand, kicking the gun up and out of the man's hands before landing in a defensive stance. The man swung a fist at him, that he easily dodged, and he retaliated with an uppercut. It was blocked. Another fist came, heading towards his face. He dodged, but failed to see the thug sneaking up behind him.

A hit was landed on his back before Robin spun around, kicking up at the thugs chin. It landed, but as Robin turned again to face the other man, he saw a fist in his peripheral vision, heading for his head, before suddenly –

_Whack!_

The fist was blocked by a bow, which proceeded to knock away the other thugs.

"Where have I seen this before?" Artemis smirked, turning so she and Robin were back-to-back. "I guess some things never change. I'll always have to save your butt."

"I had it under control." Robin growled, though rather half-heartedly. So, he didn't, but he could've survived a hit to the face. It would've ruined his handsome features, but he would've lived.

"Whatever you say, Wonder Boy."

And then they were off again. At some point, Robin noticed the arrival of parts of the Team. Miss Martian and Superboy were there, as well as Kid Flash and Red Arrow. The two aliens and the archer had obviously been still awake and easily contactable from the previous mission, and Kid Flash was Kid Flash. As much as Robin was grateful for their help (they obviously needed it), he hated to have them mixed up with the red helmet guy too.

After a couple minutes, it became obvious that more back up had arrived for the baddies. Robin figured someone must've heard the racket by now and called the cops. Not that he wanted the cops mixed in with the fight, but they had to be here to clean up the mess.

"Ayah!"

And there was a sword coming for his head. Robin leaped back, barely missing getting a lovely gash in his chest. There was a large man standing over him, at least seven feet tall, insanely muscled, and armed with a scimitar. He was shirtless and reminded Robin vaguely of Ubu. Ubu was a cool guy. But this guy wasn't nearly as friendly. Another swipe of the sword and Robin knew this guy was good. He pulled out his escrima sticks again, using them to block the swords strikes.

After a couple of blocked fatal swipes, Robin realized the man was backing him back towards the paint factory. _Not good,_ he thought. If the man managed to drive him against the wall, he would be a severe disadvantage. But it didn't look like he had a choice.

"I'm gonna gut you, little birdie." The man growled, advancing ever closer, not even seeming to break a sweat.

"I thought," Robin panted, ducking under the sword. "That your master… wanted me… alive."

"I have no master."

_Uh oh, not good. _

Robin took a step back, bringing his escrima sticks up in an 'x' to block an attack, only to find his back against the wall. He tried to push back and gain ground, but the swordsman was strong – much stronger than Robin. The boy was shoved back, flat against the wall. The next sword stroke forced Robin dodge to the side, wincing as the blade scraped across the brick of the paint building.

Another strike and a dodge and Robin's back hit something hard. A quick glance showed it was some sort of track attached the wall, probably used for an elevator or something. An elevator…. Robin's head shot up, catching sight of the elevator suspended some feet above his head, old and rusty. But he didn't really have any other options. When the next barrage of sword strikes came, the acrobat hurled himself in the air, gasping as the sword caught his leg, cutting a thin trail into his skin. Nonetheless, he managed to grab the bottom and side of the elevator, his left hand grasping a thin ledge on the side and his right tucked into a small area between the track and wheels.

"Looks like the little birdie really can fly." The man laughed, casually swinging his sword. "Let's see how good he is."

And then the sword of after his legs, slashing and swiping at them as Robin swung around underneath the elevator, trying to keep his feet where they belonged. He knew he had to get down and get back to the fight, though, and began planning an escape. As he was thinking, the swordsmen stopped attacking, instead peered up into the gloom, eyes squinting and gears turning. A smile overtook his features and Robin knew he had to get down _now. _

But again, it was too late. The man moved, almost too fast for Robin to follow, and the next thing the boy knew, he was hearing the sound of ropes being cut. He felt the elevator shake, but before as he tried to release his grip, he found his right hand was stuck. Stupid gloves. Struggling to pull his hand free, Robin glance over to where the swordsman was wandering around underneath the elevator, no doubt looking for the last rope to release the car.

He pulled harder, contorting his hand in any way possible to get it out. He finally felt the metal clasp of his glove catching and then ripping as it was pulled from the back of his hand. He was almost free when he heard a rope cut and then a creaking sound that seemed to last for hours. Next thing he knew, his hand exploded in agony, the elevator car falling down the tracks, crushing his hand in the process and grinding it together in its decent. Robin had never felt such pain in his life.

White exploded to red which turned to pulsating darkness, ripping at his very soul as his whole body burned. He was vaguely aware of hitting the ground, his hand finally coming free as the elevator crumbled off the tracks, but his body wasn't responding apart from screaming in endless pain. Robin wasn't sure if his eyes were open or closed, whether he was alive or dead. He heard a loud noise but couldn't discern what it was. He tried to pull his crushed arm to his chest, but he wasn't even sure if he succeeded or not.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, but really couldn't have been more than a few seconds, Robin was able to open his eyes, his senses returning to semi-normal, though his arm was still pure agony. Managing to slowly sit up, he blinked, swiveling his head and trying to locate the large swordsman before he lost his head. But the man was nowhere to be seen.

"_Robin, are you okay?" _

Miss Martian.

"_Yeah, I'll be fine." _Robin replied, trying to mean it. _"Where'd the guy-?"_

"_I took care of him, don't worry." _

"_Thanks Miss M." _

"_Are you sure you're okay?"_

"_Yeah, I'll be fine." _Robin forced himself to stand, clutching his arm to his chest. He knew he should at least look at it, to see what damage was done, but once he looked down, he immediately regretted it.

His glove was soaked in blood, torn and ripped, what skin could be seen was completely torn up and covered in blood. His fingers stuck out at odd angles and his whole hand and arm were twisted and contorted in sickening ways. He quickly looked away, swallowing bile and hoping that his hand wasn't permanently damaged. But there wasn't time to worry about that.

Walking slowly back towards the battle, Robin kept to the shadows, looking out into the gloom at the fight still taking place. It was hard to tell who was winning, but, judging from all the thugs littering the scene, Robin guessed it wasn't going in their favor. A closer examination showed that the red helmet guy was nowhere to be seen. Definitely not a good sign, but Robin found he was in too much pain to think too much on it.

Deciding to try to help in any way possible by throwing random batarangs at the thugs from the shadows, Robin was just about to sneak off and find a good vantage point when a foot landed hard on his back and sent him stumbling forward. He was barely able to catch himself and prevent landing on his bad arm.

"Alright, this ends here."

Robin spun around, left arm coming up in what was supposed to be a defensive position, but he couldn't bring his other arm to complete it. Red was standing above him, blood covering his arms and chest, though he himself looked unharmed. He was unarmed apart from his fists, but Robin suddenly found himself terrified. He'd yet to see the man actually fight, but if he was even half as good as the boy was expecting, Robin knew he was doomed. His only chance was to get back to the main fight.

Without a second thought, Robin launched himself at Red, kicking off his shoulder in a flip. Or at least, that's what he was aiming for. Instead, as his foot touched the shoulder, a hand grabbed his ankle, yanking him backwards with a jerk. Robin cried out as he felt his knee bend the wrong way and something inside tear. He was thrown to the ground violently, landing heavily on his right leg and side.

Gasping in pain, Robin tried to avoid the kick aimed for him, but wasn't fast enough. The man's foot came crashing down onto his knee with such force Robin could hear and feel it shatter. He let out a muffled scream, clenching his jaw so tightly he was sure his teeth would crack. The foot came down again, steal lining raining fire down on Robin's leg. The next blow was too his chest, so hard that it pushed him over, his back to Red.

Robin knew he had to get up. He knew he had to, but his body seemed protest with every fiber of its being. When the next kick landed on his back, Robin's whole body filled with fear. He couldn't let the man break his back. His life would be over. Gathering up every ounce of his strength, the boy pushed himself up, red and white flashing across his vision as his injuries were stretched and pulled. He found he could barely stand; his chest on fire and his leg unable to support his weight. But he had to get away.

Pain was everywhere as Robin pushed himself to move, to back away from the advancing figure of the man in the red helmet. He saw now that he was holding a sword, the one previously held by the large swordsman that had sent the elevator down on Robin's arm.

"_Miss Martian, come in, Miss Martian." _He desperately thought, staggering backwards away from the man who was advancing with agonizing patience, like he knew had all the time in the world.

"_Artemis? KF? Somebody, please come in!" _No one was answering. Robin tried to bring his hand up to his comm. link but couldn't, seeing as it was in his right ear.

"It's just you and me."

Robin continued to limp backwards, stopping only when he ran into a wall. Again. But this time, Robin knew there was no way out. This time, he knew there was no one coming to save him. No Miss Martian, no Batman, no Artemis, no anyone. This time, he knew it ended here.

His thoughts flashed back to Batman, to his Team, to Barbara, to all the people he never got a chance to apologize to. All the people he'd hurt so badly. He probably wouldn't die, but he knew the red helmet man would take him back to whatever this Cadmus place was. They would finish whatever they'd started on him and he would never be the same. He'd never return. It was over. All that had happened the past six months; all the pain, the suffering, everything he'd gone through and everything he'd put others through was for nothing. In the end, even Batman couldn't save him.

The sword came down and Robin raised his wrecked arm to block it, not even thinking anymore. As it sliced through his skin, he heard a scream, far off and distant, as though heard through a glass window far away. He felt the blade slice down his face, over his eye. His vision was fading. Hands were holding him, lifting him up.

"_You changed me." _

Artemis's words echoed in his head. A lot of things had changed. He wasn't the same little boy who watched his parents die, who watched his world burn before his eyes, who became Robin, who infiltrated Cadmus. He'd changed. A lot. But at the same time, he didn't. Behind all the masks, he was the same person. He was Dick Grayson. He was Robin. He might've changed, but he was still himself. As darkness finally engulfed him, he closed his eyes. At least for one last moment, he knew exactly who he was, behind the mask.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **The end!

No, I am not kidding. This is, in fact, the end of Behind the Mask. There is an epilogue, which I will post in a couple days, but this is the last chapter.

BUT, I'm writing a sequel. Of course. I wouldn't just leave you guys hanging there! I did, though, have this ending planned from very near the beginning. I will say more in my epilogue in regards to all this (and the fact that this is the first full-length story I've ever finished. Ever. In my whole life.). But that's all for the epilogue! For now, thanks for reading, and please review! You can yell and scream and all that stuff and tell me your reaction to this being the end. I can't wait to know what you think! Thanks again! I love you all!

Alex out.


	21. Epilogue

The streets were deserted. It was to be expected. The city was old, rusty, falling apart, crumbling into ruins. He didn't mind; in fact, he preferred it that way. Of course he couldn't stay there – too close to it all – but if he could've, he probably would've. He would've liked the rotting feel of it, off the beaten path, everyone else too caught up in their own deteriorating thoughts to pay anyone else any mind. He could see himself starting a life here, starting over, moving on. But Donovan got here first, polluting the city with memories and reminders that would slowly rip him to shreds the longer he stayed. Yes, he would've liked to stay, but he couldn't, so he had to leave.

He'd dropped the boy off with Donovan, taking the money, the promises, and his new identity and leaving, not even allowing himself a backwards glance. Donovan had been vaguely upset at all the injuries the boy had accumulated – shattered knee, crushed and nearly dismembered hand/arm (so that might've been a little overkill), a few cracked ribs, and a particularly nasty cut on his face and eye which would probably result in blindness in at least one eye, if not both – but the boy was alive, so he expected the deal to be upheld. He'd even taken the liberty to remove _all _of the trackers on the boy; who cared if he was a little beaten up?

Donovan had agreed and upheld the deal, asking him, of course, to stay and continue in his service, but he'd declined. He got what he wanted. So he'd left, with a smirk and a laugh, promising he'd never be seen again. The boy had been already been taken away; the procedure was to start soon and he had to be prepped.

Once he'd made it back out into the world, he'd set out on a course due west and kept walking.

Now he sighed, removing the red facemask from his face and running a hand through his black hair, lingering momentarily on the white stripe over his forehead. He had a new life, a fresh start. Everything else was behind him, only a distant memory, like an ill-fated dream, lingering in the back of the consciousness. Passing a rusty dumpster, he dropped the mask inside, listening as it clattered to the bottom, a dull ring of metal striking metal echoing across the street. But no one heard, and if they did, they didn't care. No one cared about him anymore. Batman, no doubt, cared about the mask – at least, what the man in the mask had done – but that mask was gone. And no one care about the man behind the mask.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **Well, it's officially, finally, completely, and fully over. But of course there is the sequel. Nothing is ever _really _over. ;)

Thanks to all reviewers last chapter.

**Masqueraded Angel: **Thank you!

**Silence Dogood II: **I will try! As for Jason… heeheehee….

**Kelly1432: **Awww, thanks! Crying's good. Embrace it.

**Brightpath: **Thank you!

**ShadowCatAlex: **Haha, thanks?

**mixxi: **Thank you. I rather liked it myself.

**KaliAnn: **Thank you! It's good to hear you liked the fight. I'm thinking my fight scene writing has improved greatly from the beginning of this story *shudder*.

**XxNeonShadowsxX: **Wow, thank you so much for the amazing review! I'm tickled pink, or whatever that expression is. Thank you soooo much! Words cannot describe how great this review was.

**not-exactly-the-truth: **Thank you! Hopefully it will be up soon.

**MechaBunny: **Oh dear, wouldn't want mad bunnies all over the world. Better get started on that sequel!

**Anonymous: **Thank you! That was extremely clever!

**I. Love. Dick. Grayson: **Thank you!

**soccernin19: **Blown mind. Awesome. Thank you!

**Darkninja457: **Glad you did. Thank you so much!

**Glacier22: **Come at me, bro! Haha, okay, I will get to it then, I guess. Thank you.

I just wanna say thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed this story, or followed, favorite, all that that stuff. And a special thank you to the people who reviewed every chapter and stuck with this from the beginning. You guys rock! Seriously, there was a point where I was ready to quit this and discontinue it, cause I had no inspiration. But it was all the reviewers and readers who really got me back into this, so thank you guys soooo much! I would never have finished a story this length without you all! I hope you all stick around for the sequel.

Speaking of which, I will begin working on the sequel soon! I'm super excited! I've been planning it my head since almost the beginning, so I have a lot of ideas! Like I said before, this ending was planned all along. But, before I start the sequel, I will be writing a few one-shot short story deals. So check out my other stuff while you're waiting!

I'd also like to point out this is, technically, including the epilogue, 21 chapters long. That's my favorite number. I always wanted this to be 21 chapters. Didn't think it would happen. Mind Blown.

In all, it's been a crazy journey. I started this almost exactly a year ago. That's crazy. This story was a journey of Robin finding himself, changing, and then realizing in the end, he's not the same person he was when he started out, but he's still himself. I am not the same person I was when I started this story. In a way, I feel almost as if Robin's journey was my journey. And maybe it was. But this is the end… for now. Like I said before, nothing really ends. This is more of a beginning, really. So stick around, hold on tight, and don't blink. ;)

Until next time!

Alex out.

**...Yeah he looks so sad in photographs; I absolutely love him, when he smiles. **


	22. Sequel

**Hello all! So it has recently come to my attention that there are some who didn't know that I posted the beginning to a sequel to this story! So this is the official sequel announcement a few months late...**

**Fix You: Sequel to Behind the Mask**

**After six months, they've finally succeeded in capturing Robin. With little to no lead and no idea who "they" are, Batman and the world of heroes attempt to track down his kidnapper. But with what's being done to him, even if they managed to get him back, would Robin ever be the same?**

**I will remove this chapter within a week, as I understand it technically doesn't constitute as a chapter! But I just wanted to let you all know!**

**Alex out.**


End file.
